Beyond the Epic: The Life and Films of David Lean

9. The Stag at Eve: Hobson’s Choice

From฀Rank฀to฀Korda 188 ters,฀is฀a฀self-possessed,฀assertive฀young฀woman.฀She฀decides฀to฀rebel฀against฀ her฀penny-pinching฀father,฀who฀pays฀his฀daughters฀only฀meager฀wages฀and฀ rules฀them฀like฀an฀absolute฀monarch.฀Maggie฀is฀determined฀to฀find฀herself฀a฀ husband฀with฀whom฀she฀can฀open฀a฀shoemaking฀shop฀that฀can฀rival฀her฀father ’s.฀In฀due฀course,฀she฀marries฀her฀father’s฀timid฀but฀talented฀shoemaker,฀ Willie฀Mossop,฀and฀lures฀him฀away฀from฀Hobson’s฀shop฀to฀start฀an฀establishment ฀of฀their฀own.฀A฀highly฀efficient฀saleswoman,฀Maggie,฀with฀Willie’s฀help,฀ makes฀a฀go฀of฀their฀new฀business. Hobson’s฀ailing฀business฀and฀his฀alcoholism฀finally฀force฀him฀to฀come฀to฀ terms฀with฀Maggie฀and฀Willie.฀They฀insist฀on฀a฀merger,฀whereby฀they฀will฀take฀ over฀and฀run฀his฀business.฀Their฀ultimatum฀to฀Hobson฀brings฀the฀play’s฀title฀ into฀relief.฀The฀expression฀Hobson’s฀choice฀means฀no฀choice฀at฀all.฀It฀is฀a฀reference ฀to฀Thomas฀Hobson,฀a฀seventeenth-century฀stable฀owner฀who฀rented฀ horse-drawn฀carriages.฀He฀offered฀each฀customer฀the฀horse฀standing฀nearest฀ the฀stable฀door฀or฀no฀horse฀at฀all.฀So,฀at฀play’s฀end,฀Maggie฀and฀Willie฀tell฀ Henry฀Hobson฀that฀he฀must฀go฀into฀business฀with฀them฀as฀his฀full฀partners,฀ not฀his฀employees,฀or฀go฀bankrupt.฀In฀short,฀they฀leave฀him฀no฀alternative. Hobson’s฀Choice฀is฀a฀domestic฀comedy฀that,฀nevertheless,฀explores฀some฀ substantial฀social฀issues.฀Brighouse฀employed฀the฀plot฀to฀examine฀aspects฀of฀ feminism฀and฀to฀provide฀a฀rueful฀critique฀of฀patriarchy.฀By฀the฀time฀Brighouse฀ penned฀Hobson’s฀Choice฀in฀1915,฀the฀movement฀for฀women’s฀rights฀had฀gotten ฀rolling฀in฀earnest฀in฀Britain.฀The฀movement฀was฀championed฀by฀eloquent฀ feminists฀like฀Rebecca฀West,฀who฀contributed฀to฀the฀New฀Freewoman.1 ฀West,฀ we฀ know,฀ was฀ the฀ model฀ for฀ the฀ stubborn,฀ independent฀ heroine฀ of฀ The฀ Passionate฀Friends฀(see฀chapter฀7). In฀Brighouse’s฀play,฀Maggie,฀a฀strong-minded฀woman฀who฀defies฀her฀ overbearing฀father,฀certainly฀reflects฀feminist฀attitudes.฀In฀the฀end,฀the฀old฀ order,฀epitomized฀by฀the฀truculent,฀pompous฀Henry฀Hobson,฀must฀perforce฀ give฀way฀to฀new,฀the฀upward฀mobility฀of฀his฀accomplished฀daughter฀and฀her฀ pliable฀husband.฀In฀fact,฀Maggie฀inspires฀Willie฀with฀the฀optimistic฀motto:฀ “There฀is฀always฀room฀at฀the฀top.” Lean฀was฀interested฀to฀learn฀that฀the฀play฀had฀already฀been฀filmed฀twice,฀ by฀Percy฀Nash฀in฀1920฀as฀a฀silent฀movie฀and฀by฀Thomas฀Bentley฀in฀1931฀as฀ a฀talkie.฀Korda฀had฀a฀hunch฀that฀another฀remake฀was฀in฀order.฀There฀is฀no฀ record฀that฀Lean฀watched฀either฀of฀the฀previous฀two฀film฀versions฀(he฀did,฀ e.g.,฀see฀William฀Cowen’s฀Oliver฀Twist,฀the฀first฀sound฀version,฀before฀he฀ made฀his฀own).฀Nash’s฀film฀starred฀Arthur฀Pitt฀as฀Hobson฀and฀Joan฀Ritz฀as฀ Maggie.฀By฀all฀accounts,฀it฀was฀a฀mediocre฀flick,฀made฀somewhat฀gloomy฀by฀ its฀drab,฀working-class฀settings.฀Nash฀appears฀to฀have฀fumbled฀Hobson’s฀ comic฀ drunk฀ scenes,฀ which฀ at฀ times฀ border฀ on฀ slapstick,฀ and฀ which฀ had฀ LeanChap09B.indd 188 9/21/06 2:57:10 PM The฀Stag฀at฀Eve 189 helped฀ make฀ the฀ play฀ a฀ success฀ in฀ its฀ day.฀ Bentley’s฀ film฀ starred฀ James฀ Harcourt฀as฀Hobson฀and฀Viola฀Lyel฀as฀Maggie.฀It฀was฀made฀not฀long฀after฀ the฀birth฀of฀sound฀pictures,฀when,฀as฀Alfred฀Hitchcock฀observed,฀directors฀ often฀“filmed฀stage฀plays฀straight,”฀forgetting฀that฀talking฀pictures฀should฀ also฀be฀moving฀pictures,฀not฀mere฀photographs฀of฀“talking฀heads.”2 ฀Bentley’s฀ film,฀unfortunately,฀falls฀into฀this฀category.฀Variety฀was฀particularly฀acerbic฀in฀ dismissing฀it฀as฀a฀stagy฀talk฀fest:฀“The฀only฀thing฀in฀its฀favor฀is฀its฀short฀footage ”฀(sixty-five฀minutes).3 Korda฀assured฀Lean฀that฀the฀first฀two฀film฀adaptations฀offered฀little฀competition .฀Hence,฀Lean฀was฀greatly฀interested฀in฀doing฀a฀fresh฀film฀version— especially฀ after฀ he฀ saw฀ a฀ spirited฀ revival฀ at฀ the฀ Arts฀ Theater฀ Club฀ in฀ the฀ summer฀ of฀ 1952.฀ Lean฀ had฀ not฀ made฀ a฀ comedy฀ since฀ Blithe฀ Spirit,฀ and฀ Hobson’s฀Choice฀would฀be฀his฀second,฀and฀last,฀effort฀in฀that฀genre. Korda฀firmly฀believed฀that,฀because฀it฀addresses฀some฀thought-provoking฀ issues,฀Hobson’s฀Choice฀was฀not฀out-of-date.฀It฀deals฀not฀only฀with฀feminism฀ but฀also฀with฀alcoholism,฀failure,฀greed,฀and฀human฀beings’฀inability฀to฀ communicate฀with฀one฀another.฀It฀is฀also฀a฀very฀entertaining,฀comic฀portrayal ฀of฀a฀seedy,฀self-deluded฀petty฀tyrant฀who฀gets฀a฀long-overdue฀comeuppance .฀Korda...