A Masterpiece of Lusty, Gusty, Rowdy Entertainment!

Starring: Charles Laughton, Brenda de Banzie, John Mills, Daphne Anderson, Prunella Scales, Richard Wattis, Derek Blomfield, Helen Haye, Joseph Tomelty, Julien Mitchell, Gibb Mclaughlin

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ - great

"I don't agree with you, Mr. Hobson. You're a dunderheaded lump for obstinacy, but I've taken a fancy to you and I don't want to let you kill yourself." - Dr. McFarlane

Why watch this? This is old-school British comedy, and it's pretty darn good.

Plot Summary: In Victorian-era England, a tyrannical widower and shoe shop owner attempts to control the lives of his three unmarried daughters. When he refuses to provide settlements for their marriages, his eldest daughter defies him by proposing to his timid but talented boot maker. The newly formed couple establishes their own competing business, setting off a battle of wills that shifts the family's balance of power.

Dad's Preview: You won't get deep into the history of British film without running into Charles Laughton. He has rendered some of cinema's most memorable performances: the cruel Captain Bligh in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) and the grotesque Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. His performance here, as a miserly, gruff father and town drunkard, is no less wonderful. However, this film also depends on the efforts of supporting actors Brenda de Banzie and John Mills, as his daughter and apprentice. It is their unexpected courtship that upends Mr. Hobson's rule of the family. I love the film's subtle theme: Most men just think they run things, but the world turns according to strong women and the power they gracefully exert as needed.

Daniel Lean, London Films; British Lion Films, United Artists