Brenda De Banzie is most rewarding when her determination has somewhere to go. We prefer the woman taking charge in Hobson's Choice to the dependable supporting player her later films too often asked her to be.
Fi1m perspective
Maggie Hobson takes charge of her marriage and her work in Hobson's Choice (1954), and De Banzie makes that determination worth watching. David Lean gives her a character whose decisions matter to the whole film. We warmed to Maggie because she wants a say in how she earns her living as well as whom she marries. It is a useful starting point for De Banzie: she is particularly good when a woman has practical things to get done.
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) gives her a smaller place, as Lucy Drayton, in Alfred Hitchcock's family thriller. It is a film we recommend with reservations: the concert sequence sustains its tension, but the pacing elsewhere needs tightening. James Stewart and Doris Day supply the parents' distress that makes those waits worthwhile. De Banzie's reliable supporting work belongs to a film whose strongest feelings sit with its leads. We would not choose it as the fullest introduction to her acting, though her ability to fit into an ensemble is part of what makes her valuable.
In The Entertainer (1960), Tony Richardson gives her Phoebe Rice, the unhappy wife of Laurence Olivier's fading music-hall performer. De Banzie had already played Phoebe on stage, and her convincing weariness gives us something different from Maggie's determination. Here is a woman who cannot simply put things right by deciding to do so. De Banzie makes that disappointment count alongside Olivier, giving an unhappy wife enough weight to deserve attention in her own right.
After 1960, her film work was increasingly confined to supporting and matronly parts; Angela Dunning in Blake Edwards' The Pink Panther (1963) was one of the lighter assignments. Her usefulness across thrillers and farce is easy to appreciate, but it does not make every part equally rewarding. Those smaller roles give her fewer opportunities to drive a story, which is a pity when we have seen how well she can do it. Start with Hobson's Choice; the smaller parts can wait.
Biography
Brenda De Banzie (28 July 1909 – 5 March 1981) was a British actress of stage and screen. Born in Manchester, she was the daughter of conductor Edward Thomas de Banzie and his wife Dorothy. She made her London stage debut in 1942 and appeared in films from 1951.
Her film roles include Maggie Hobson in Hobson's Choice (1954), Lucy Drayton in The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Phoebe Rice in The Entertainer (1960), and Angela Dunning in The Pink Panther (1963). She recreated the role of Phoebe Rice on Broadway, receiving a Tony Award nomination. She was the aunt of actress Lois de Banzie.
