The 1953 film "Hobson's Choice" is a British comedy set in Victorian England around 1880. Henry Hobson owns a boot maker store on Chapel Street in Salford, England whose excellent boots and shoes are made by employee William Mossop. Hobson has three daughters and the oldest daughter, Maggie, decides to marry William and "improve" him. William and Maggie open their own boot store and save their first British penny earned. The coin shown is an actual British large penny reverse.

A street appears and then a business sign.

The sign reads "Henry Hobson Boot Maker." Next, a scene of the city of Salford appears.

Salford is located near Manchester in Great Britain. At Hobson's boot store, employee Tubby Wadlow enters and greets Henry Hobson's three daughters.

Mr. Hobson's daughters are unpaid employees of his store. Henry Hobson spends a lot of time at Moonrakers Inn, a local pub drinking. (A Moonraker is either a smuggler or a stupid person) He usually suffers from a "hangover" in the morning and sleeps late. Daughter Alice goes upstairs to wake up her father.

A wealthy customer, Mrs. Hepworth, comes into the store and asks who made her latest pair of boots. Henry Hobson tells her that his employee William Mossop made them.

Mrs. Hepworth tells William that they are the best pair of boots that she has ever worn. She gives William her card and asks him to let her know if he moves to another address. Alice and Vicky Hobson both have boyfriends whom they plan to marry. Alice has been seeing Albert Prosser, a local lawyer. Vicky has been seeing Freddy Beenstock, the son of a local corn merchant. Mr. Hobson has told the daughters that he will not give them the traditional "wedding settlements", which are money given by families to help out young married couples. Maggie, who is 30 years old, has been the victim of her father's insults that she is too old to marry. She decides she wants to get married too and picks her father's employee William Mossop as the man.

William, who is illiterate and very shy, is shocked at her suggestion, but agrees to see her. They take courting walks along the river.

Under the influence of Maggie, William becomes less timid. When Mr. Hobson learns of the courting he orders William to stop but William refuses.

Maggie then suggests that she and William open their own boot store. They visit the wealthy Mrs. Hepworth from whom William had received the card earlier.

Mrs. Hepworth's house has a tiger skin rug on the floor, indicating that possibly her late husband had served in India. She agrees to lend William and Maggie 100 pounds to open their shop. The pair then visit the Manchester Salford Bank.

Maggie carries a bag of coins, most likely the 100 pounds in gold sovereigns. The pair visit various vacant places to find one suitable for their business.

Maggie negotiates the rent with the landlord by hold and rattling two coins together. Mr. Hobson becomes increasingly upset with the loss especially of Maggie and William, and seeks comfort at the Moonrakers Inn.

William has been handing out advertisements promoting his new boot store.

The notice reads:

After another night of drinking at Moonrakers Inn, Henry Hobson walks home but falls into the ground entrance of the Beenstock corn store and lands on the bags of corn.

The Beenstocks find Mr. Hobson laying there but do not awaken him. Mr. Hobson later wakes up naturally and climbs out to the street. William and Maggie head for the church with her sisters and their boyfriends for a small wedding. Maggie supplies a brass ring which she will wear. The group then heads for William Mossop's shop for a party.

The family holds a small wedding party without Mr. Hobson. After the party Mr. Hobson arrives unhappy and tells Maggie that the Beenstocks have filed a lawsuit against him for trespass and damage to their corn supply store. Freddy Beenstock and his lawyer Albert Prosser join them.

They quickly come to an agreement to avoid a trial.

Mr. Hobson will pay 500 pounds to Beenstock and Prosser and they will drop the lawsuit. Hobson realizes that he has been "diddled" and that the money will go to Vicky and Alice as wedding settlements. William and Maggie, now married, open their boot shop for business.

A woman enters and purchases a pair of shoelaces for one penny.

William opens the cash register and throws the penny in.

Only the reverse of a very worn British large penny is shown. This reverse was used by British pennies during Queen Victoria's reign (and later).

A British Penny of Queen Victoria:

Bronze, 30.8 mm, 9.45 gm

Obverse: Queen Victoria facing left
Reverse: Britannia seated with shield and holding spear, date below

Back at Hobson's store, Hobson is waking up after another night at the Moonrakers pub.

He wakes up to see a horrible figure smiling at him.

A local doctor is summoned, examines Hobson, and declares him to be a "chronic alcoholic." The doctor advises Hobson to quit drinking and to retire from business.

William and Maggie convince Mr. Hobson to turn the store over to them to manage. They will also rename the store "Mossop and Hobson." William has enough money now and offers to buy Maggie a gold wedding ring to replace her brass one.

Maggie tells William she prefers to keep the brass ring.

Director: David Lean
Writers: David Lean, Wynyard Browne, Norman Spencer, Harold Brighouse (play)