Hobbs, Philip

(b. 1952)

   The coproducer of FULL METAL JACKET (1987) and STANLEY KUBRICK’s son-in-law, Philip Eugene Hobbs got his start in the film business as a caterer. His father, who had been a glider pilot during World War II, had started the company, Location Caterers, after the war. It became a huge success, but Mr. Hobbs died relatively young, leaving the family business in the hands of Philip, who was just 16 at the time.

   Philip Hobbs carried on the company with the help of his mother and uncle, and it continued to thrive. Location Caterers fed thousands of people on hundreds of films, including A Bridge Too Far (1977), Gandhi (1982), all the “Indiana Jones” films, and Far and Away (1992). While catering BARRY LYNDON (1975), 20-year-old Hobbs was introduced to Stanley Kubrick’s 19-year-old daughter, Katharina, by June Randall, the continuity supervisor on the film. KATHARINA KUBRICK recalls:

   I decided I thought [Philip] was rather nice, so I sort of followed him around a bit . . . He was quite handsome, so we embarked on this very clandestine thing . . . But it was all supposed to be terribly secret, because Daddy didn’t want me fraternizing with the crew . . . He said, “I don’t want you chasing the boys. ” . . . Anyway,my father found out about it and disapproved. We split up . . . And ten years later, I was working at Pinewood [Studios], on Supergirl [1982], when he walked into the bar . . . and we started going for drinks; and the rest, as they say, is history. Katharina Kubrick married Philip Hobbs on March 10, 1984. Nothing if not pragmatic, Stanley Kubrick saw in his new son-in-law someone who could organize complex events extremely well, who knew a lot of people in the British film industry, and, most importantly, who would be loyal, who would not try to cheat him. So Hobbs was the ideal candidate for coproducer (essentially line producer) on Full Metal Jacket (1987). According to Katharina Kubrick,“Philip did a huge job, did it very, very well, and I know that Stanley was very grateful to him. ” An illness prevented Philip Hobbs from working on Kubrick’s next film, EYES WIDE SHUT (1999). Then, upon Stanley Kubrick’s death, it fell to Hobbs to organize his father-in-law’s funeral. On top of the sadness of such a task, Hobbs successfully faced the bureaucratic nightmare of getting the necessary permits to have Kubrick buried in the family’s garden, per Kubrick’s wishes. Not a simple funeral by any means, the event became a day of veneration for one of the world’s great artists, with high-profile celebrities in attendance, offering their tributes. Philip Hobbs put all of this together in the space of five days. “He organized that funeral so brilliantly,” says Katharina. Since then, Hobbs has been overseeing the renovation of the Kubrick family home, Childwickbury House, as well as archiving Stanley Kubrick’s notes, files, photos, films, photographic and cinematic equipment, and other effects. He currently is developing a number of film and television projects, in collaboration with JAN HARLAN and others.

   References

   ■ Kubrick, Katharina, interview with Rodney Hill, New York, May 15, 2001;

   ■ LoBrutto, Vincent, Stanley Kubrick: A Biography (New York: Da Capo, 1999). “Philip Hobbs,” Internet Movie Database, www.imdb.com.