What Maggie did - Hobson's Choice (1954) Discussion

All's fair in love and war, as the saying goes. I think Willie was lucky to escape that prospective mother-in-law.

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He does say "It's like a happy dream."

That sequence has a favorite line of ours: "Young woman, you're treading on my foot."

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[–] Devinm1978 14 years ago

Well, I think it's a case of a strong woman making the man she loves do what he needs to do, even if he doesn't know he should do it. I felt sorry for Ada too, but Willie was capable of such a greater existence than settling for Ada and a life in the slums. Willie does come into his own as the film progresses, finding his strength and coming to the realization that he was spared the misery of a life with Ada and the mother-in-law from hell.

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[–] sharonlee-4 14 years ago

I know these are old threads but I've only just found the Board so I hope I'm not talking to myself!

I dont think Maggie stole Will from Ada as much as she stole him from under the mother's nose, who saw in her lodger a good catch for her daughter and was thwarted in her plans. I doubt Will and Ada were ever a "love match" in the first place, Ada "like as not" married the next bloke her mother snared along with the rent money.

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[–] Devinm1978 13 years ago

I agree 100%. And it's very likely that had Maggie never came along, Will would have settled with/for Ada and would never have had thoughts otherwise.

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[–] sharonlee-4 13 years ago

Too true devin. And isn't that true to life in so many ways? Many of us settle for lives and "perceived" loves that fall far short of the lives and loves we could have. And it sometimes takes the right person to come along and allow us a brief glimpse of the dream we didn't dare to dream. Then its down to our free will - the same free will Will had - to either reject the dream and play a safe and potentially mundane life, or be brave and strike out on a new path, wherever it may lead.

I just love this film :-)

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[–] vinidici 13 years ago

I perceived that, beneath Maggie's "business" demeanor, she truly loved and respected, and believed in Willie (who would need to learn to believe in HIMSELF) LONG before the events depicted in the movie's beginning; and wanted to save him from a lesser existence, which she did--in spades!

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[–] elena-28 13 years ago

I agree about Maggie's love and respect - we see it as early as the first daytime scene, when she covers up for his not being able to read Mrs. Hepworth's calling card. We also see hints of his effect on her as they work together. I love these moments in the basement scene: Maggie finishes sewing (a button?) on Willie's coat while he finishes tea and tries to make out the calling card. Watch Maggie's face as she casts a glance at his puzzled expression. Then she tells him to go to Tubby Wadlow. He creaks as he gets up after his *very* long day, and her laugh is short and tender. He stumbles over expressing how "grand" a day it's been, and the tiny build from Maggie is topped by her gentle gesture and tone (which we've never really seen or heard from her before): "You great, soft thing."

The whole bit is crowned by Willie's looking at his name while going upstairs and then the closeup of his expression as he walks "home" to Tubby.

This wonderfully-underplayed sequence convinces me that Willie will be as good for Maggie as she is for him (which harks back to the strident declaration she makes to Mrs. Figgis that Willie is as soft and gentle as she is hard. They will bring out the best in each other over a long, propserous, though of course not perfect life together).

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[–] vinidici 13 years ago

Maggie reminds me of two women in my life: my aunt and my girlfriend. And I'm not a whole lot different from Willie, in that I honestly believe my life would have been diminished without either of the two women I've mentioned.

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[–] cdss 11 years ago

The whole bit is crowned by Willie's looking at his name while going upstairs and then the closeup of his expression as he walks "home" to Tubby.

Notice how the lighting comes up on the sign as Willie looks at it and then fades back down as he finishes climbing the stairs. Beautiful little touch by the great and underrated Jack Hildyard.

=:~)

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[–] wmousie 12 years ago

The question of why Maggie thought she should be the one to marry Will was covered in the original play.

Being a play, the action is slightly different. The two women meet in Hobson's shop when Ada brings Will his lunch,

The dialog is as follows:

MAGGIE. The scheming hussy. It's not that sandy gill who brings your dinner?
WILLIE. She's golden-haired is Ada. Aye, she'll be here soon.
MAGGIE. And so shall I. I'll talk to Ada. I've seen her and I know the breed. Ada's the helpless sort.
WILLIE. She needs protecting.
MAGGIE. That's how she got you, was it? Yes, I can see her clinging round your neck until you fancied you were strong. But I'll tell you this, my lad, it's a desperate poor kind of a woman that'll look for protection to the likes of you.
WILLIE. Ada does.
MAGGIE. And that gives me the weight of her. She's born to meekness, Ada is. You wed her, and you'll be an eighteen shilling a week bootmaker all the days of your life. You'll be a slave, and a contented slave.
WILLIE. I'm not ambitious that I know of.
MAGGIE. No. But you're going to be. I'll see to that. I've got my work cut out, but there's the makings of a man about you.

And later ....

ADA. You'll pardon me. You've spoke too late. Will and me's tokened. (She takes his arm.)
MAGGIE. That's the past. It's the future that I'm looking to. What's your idea for that?
ADA. You mind your own business, Miss 'Obson. Will Mossop's no concern of thine.
WILLIE. That's what I try to tell her myself, only she will have it it's no use.
MAGGIE. Not an atom. I've asked for your idea of Willie's future. If it's a likelier one than mine, I'll give you best and you can have the lad.
ADA. I'm trusting him to make the future right.
MAGGIE. It's as bad as I thought it was. Willie, you wed me.

And since Maggie's vision of Will's future is superior to Ada's (Maggie wishes to become a prop for Will, while Ada wishes Will to become a prop for her) Maggie takes Will away from Ada.

For anyone who is interested, a free copy of Harold Brighouse's 1916 play it is avaiable online in Text, HTML, and several proprietory formats through Project Gutenberg, at:

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6347

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[–] nutritionist 11 years ago

Thank you!!- that sheds more light on this Great film.

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[–] franzkabuki 11 years ago

Every woman for herself. And, if anything, it was more like a robbery than a theft.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

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