The Man in the White Suit

In a funny, touching, brilliant way, this film examines the eternal debate over man's technology, his suppression of it, and the inevitable consequences of its effect on his fellow man.

A quiet classic.

Alec Guinness is a genius who is beyond geekiness, he's obsessive. He lives in poverty and obscurity, he takes dead-end jobs that barely pay the rent, all so that he can complete his research and present the weary post-WWII world with a miracle: A fabric that will never get dirty, wrinkle, or wear out. Nobody will ever have to do laundry, iron, or spend for new clothes ever again. Of course, when he tries to start production not only do the captains of industry realize that it'll put them out of business, so do the unions. Chaos ensues, to say the least.

A very funny film, in that particularly witty, intelligent, satirical, slightly evil style found in the best post-war British films. This film is worthy to stand with "Kind Hearts and Coronets" and "The Lavender Hill Mob", all made by Ealing Studios and starring the subtle Alec Guinness.

Alec Guinness, an interesting story, and some effective dry humor make this a witty and satisfying satirical comedy. Like a number of the Ealing comedies, the initial plot premise is interesting, yet it is really only a pretext for presenting material that affords some opportunities for subtly caustic commentary. In this case, the far-fetched invention by Guinness's character is used cleverly to point out the ways that various persons feel about science, change, and technology.

Guinness plays an innocent, even naive, character here, which is rather different from most of those he played in other Ealing features. There is a good assortment of supporting characters this time, and some of the minor roles feature some effective performances. Cecil Parker, Michael Gough, and Ernest Thesiger make a good trio of heavies, and Joan Greenwood works well as a character in the middle of things.

The ironic, understated tone of most of the humor keeps things low-key but effective. It's the kind of approach that is far more challenging than direct ridicule, and it takes disciplined film-makers to make something like this work. Not least among the movie's strengths is Guinness's own skill in making his character believable in addition to sympathetic.

While in some ways the comparison may be a stretch, there are some rather interesting parallels between "The Man in the White Suit" and the much more recent "Jurassic Park". The style and characters are much different (though "Jurassic Park" is not entirely without its own moments of dry humor), but in both cases an amazing - and entirely fictional - invention is shown to provoke all kinds of differing reactions, as others seek to exploit it, to close it down, or to control it. In both cases, the point is not whether the invention is valid, but rather the ways that everyone responds while barely understanding or appreciating the actual development itself.

While "The Man in the White Suit" is not one of the best-known Ealing features, it is another good one, with wit, solid characters and story, and an approach that combines style and substance.

This is one of my favorite movies of all time! It is a fantastic satire of industrial society. Sidney Stratton develops a revolutionary new fibre that will, in theory, never wear out and never get dirty. The owners of the textile mills wants to suppress this new invention because it will mean the end of their businesses. The workers want to suppress this new invention becuase it will mean the end of their jobs. However, the two groups do not trust each other. It is this distrust which drives the hysterical second half of the film.

One of the mill owners makes a funny speech about capital and labor working together.....working together to suppress advancement.

Perhaps given the state of British industry prior the mid 1980's, the author of the play on which the movie was based, was trying to warn British unions and management about the errors of their ways.....

The Man in the White Suit is one of those delightful comedies that Ealing studies made so well in the 40's and 50's. The plot of this one follows a man that invents a cloth that neither gets dirty nor breaks. Of course, this is a huge breakthrough in the world of textiles. However, things are not that simple as the cloth will threaten the way of life of many people, including cloth manufacturers, the cloth mill's workforces, and even an old lady that does her washing every week. The Man in the White Suit is a film about scientific advances, and the way that they don't always help; as the old woman says at one point in the movie, "Why cant you scientists just leave things alone?"

Like a lot Ealing comedies, this one stars Sir Alec Guinness. Alec Guinness is a fantastic actor; he has the ability to light up the screen with his presence (and he does in this film, literally), but he also manages to portray his characters in a down to earth and believable way. He is suitably creepy in this film, and he captures just the right atmosphere for his character; an intelligent and ambitious, but slightly naive scientist. Along with Guinness, The Man in the White Suit also features Joan Greenwood, the deep voiced actress that co-starred with Guinness in the simply divine "Kind Hearts and Coronets" and Michael Gough, a man that would go on to get himself the role of Alfred in the Batman films. The acting in the film isn't always great, but it is always decent, and it's fits with the film.

The Man in the White Suit is an intelligent, thought-provoking and witty comedy with a moral. The comedy isn't always obvious, and it doesn't always work, but the film is not meant to be a film that provokes belly laughs, so that is forgivable. I recommend this movie, basically, to anyone that is a fan of movies.