Short, barrel-chested, and fueled by pit bull tenacity, Bob Hoskins has been called the British Cagney but in truth, he was too original to be compared to anyone. He brought characters to life on screen with such intensity that it’s hard to accept the fact that at the age of 71 he’d dead. On April 29, the Oscar-nominated actor passed away after being treated for pneumonia. He might have only been 5 foot 6, but on screen he could create towering characters full of menace and ferocious energy. Yet he could also pull back and create subtle, gentle characters full of tenderness.
His range was remarkable and he was essentially a character actor who commanded leading man roles.
Here are 10 must-see Bob Hoskins films listed in chronological order so, if you choose, you can watch them in order and see him evolve as an actor.
1. The Long Good Friday (1980) as Harold Shand
Hoskins had his breakout role as Harold Shand, a British gangster trying to move into the legit world with a lucrative property deal. But someone’s dead set on making sure the deal doesn’t go through. Shand could have been a standard tough guy gangster but Hoskins gives him unexpected shadings. He’s definitely brutal and from the streets, but he’s also smart and with a sense of the big picture.
The film also has an indelible moment when Shand comes to interrogate some gangsters hanging upside down in a meat locker and puts the situation to them quite clearly: “Right lads, it’s your decision. Frostbite or verbals. One of the two, right?” How could he not become a star after making such a vivid impression?
The film brims with other great lines from Hoskins’ Shand ranging from “I’ll have his carcass dripping blood by midnight” to “The Mafia? I’ve shit ’em.” To appreciate Hoskins as an actor, you have to start here.
2. The Cotton Club (1984) as Owney Madden
Francis Ford Coppola spotted Hoskins’ talent and cast him as Owney Madden, the owner of Harlem’s famous Cotton Club where as Madden says in the film, “In the next room, gentlemen, is the finest food, drink and pussy in New York at a price.” Madden is definitely a kindred spirit to Shand.
Owney’s best line: “Someone oughta take out your brain and pickle it!”
3. Brazil (1985) as Spoor
Hoskins only had a small role in Terry Gilliam’s wildly inventive and darkly comic tale of a future overrun by ducts and ominously controlled by an oppressive bureaucracy. Hoskins played Spoor, one half of a pair of inept Central Service workers who come to fix the protagonist’s air conditioning but proceed to demolish the place. The only thing that stops them is the request for the appropriate paperwork. Here Hoskins proves that even in a small role, he can make a big impact.
Spoor’s best line: “Where’d you get this from, eh? Out yer nostril?”
4. Mona Lisa (1986) as George
In Neil Jordan’s neo-noir romantic fairy tale, Hoskins gets a chance to mix tough and tender to absolute perfection. He plays George, a man just out of prison who snags a job driving a high-class call girl (the lovely Cathy Tyson) around. Their initially abrasive relationship eventually turns sweet and nabbed him his one and only Oscar nomination for Best Actor (shame on the Academy for not honoring him with more).
Not a best line but here’s George’s gruffly romantic summation of the story: “She was trapped. From the first time he met her. She was trapped. Like a bird in a cage. But he couldn’t see it. He liked her, but he was the type who couldn’t see what was in front of his face. And there she was, in pain. You can get soppy about someone, well, you can’t see these things, and he was, soppy sod. She had faith in him. She believed in him. And he had a lot of hopes for her. And there was love. Yeah. She was in love alright. She really was. But not with him. And that’s the story.”
5. Prayer for the Dying (1987) as Father Michael Da Costa
This tale mixes the mob, the IRA, and the Catholic Church, and just to prove his versatility, Hoskins (who could have played any of the three leads) took on the role of the priest. But just as Spencer Tracy played priests as tough guys from the streets, so too did Hoskins give us a priest who was not afraid to mix it up with either the mob or the IRA.
Not picking a best line here but a best moment, when Father Michael is escorted out of a restaurant by some thugs and chooses to teach them a lesson by beating one over the head with a trash can lid.
6. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988) as Eddie Valiant
This is probably Hoskins most financially successful and widely seen film. Hoskins plays a toon-hating detective called upon to clear the titular Roger Rabbit of murder. Hoskins plays most of his scenes with cartoon characters that were never on the set, and the amazing thing is that he makes us believe in the wacky world of his character as well as the animated ones as if they are all real.
Most memorable line: “A toon killed my brother.” But the funniest might be: “You don’t know how hard it is being a man looking at a woman looking the way you do.”
7. 24/7 (1997) as Alan Darcy
Hoskins appeared in many big Hollywood productions but he still made time for small, indie, British films like this drama from Shane Meadows (This is England). Here he plays a man who sets out on a mission to help some working-class kids find avenues others than gangs to channel their energy. His alternative is a boxing club for the boys. It’s another performance that harkens back to the gritty social pictures Warner Brothers made in the 1930s.
8. Last Orders (2001) as Ray
Here Hoskins proves how great he can be in an ensemble of brilliant players. How can you resist Hoskins, Michael Caine (with whom he made 5 other films), Ray Winstone, David Hemmings, Tom Courtenay, and Helen Mirren (reteaming after working together in The Long Good Friday) coming together to scatter a man’s ashes.
9. Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005) as Vivian Van Damm
As with Last Orders, Mrs. Henderson Presents shows Hoskins off as a team player. He excels here by being generous and allowing for a delightful give and take between his character and the one played by Judi Dench. The film is based on the true story of the Windmill Theatre in London and its owner, the 70-year-old widow Mrs. Henderson (Dench). Hoskins plays the theater manager Vivian Van Damm. Controversy arises when the two suggest that to bolster sagging box office they serve up female nudity on stage.
Best line: “What you are suggesting isn’t possible. That kind of thing isn’t done here. Nudity? In England?”
10. Hollywoodland (2006) as Eddie Mannix
Hoskins played a lot of famous historical figures on screen, from Winston Churchill (in a TV movie) to Nikita Khrushchev (Enemy at the Gate) to J. Edgar Hoover (Nixon) to Benito Mussolini (in TV biopic). But it was the lesser-known people like Vivian Van Damm and studio executive Eddie Mannix that proved more fun. Hollywoodland looks to the mysterious death of TV Superman actor George Reeves. Again he manages to effortlessly mix toughness and vulnerability, menace and tenderness.
His best lines come in a scene between Eddie and his wife (played by Diane Lane): “Okay. I’m gonna let some light in. I wanna tell you somethin’. You know I’ll always take care of you. Whatever’s happened. Whatever might’ve been done, it doesn’t matter. Nobody’s gonna hurt you. Nobody gets to ask. I won’t allow it. You’re safe with me. With your husband. Let me see what you look like. You’re beautiful. You always will be.”
Bonus pick: Not a film but the BBC/Dennis Potter series Pennies From Heaven (1978) gave Hoskins his first vividly memorable role as Arthur Parker. Arthur, a sheet music salesman with an unappreciated ear for the hit tunes. So he channels all his creativity into fantasies where we find him bursting into full song and partaking in full-fledged musical numbers that would make Busby Berkeley proud. But it’s all in his imagination and he always has to return to a bleak and dingy reality. Everything about this BBC show is amazing and it signaled early on that Hoskins was a unique powerhouse talent.
