The Man in the White Suit (1951)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

This film should be used in college classes to demonstrate the contradictions of the "free market". Alec Guinness' character, a chemist in a fabric manufacturing plant, is the archetypal scientific nerd, singularly focused on developing his miracle thread -- repels dirt and is indestructible. And he finally does ... much to the dismay of those in the industry who depend on the fabric status quo to stay in business.Imagine if a pharmaceutical scientist developed a single pill that cured all illnesses ... how would the rest of the pharmaceutical industry respond?The realization of dreams of perfection will always be resisted by those who profit from imperfection. "The Man In The White Suit" makes this perfectly clear.

The film is trying to be a whimsical story about an inventor who's creation would get rid of the necessity to wash, iron, mend and ultimately produce clothing. Hailed as a genius at first, both industrialists and menial workers realize that the invention would make them lose their jobs and mob the inventor in order to stop him from disclosing his idea.If the film would be made today, it would probably be about some electronic or energy related discovery, it would be darker, more realistic. The mob tearing the disintegrating suit apart in the original was a metaphor for what would probably happen in the remake: tearing the inventor apart, until no trace of his dream would remain. For however comedic the film, in its last moments I was overcome with horror at what I knew the scenes were really talking about.The film is excellent, both in story and acting. The whimsy had a rather opposing effect on me, like watching a cannibal clown laughing happily on a circus song while eating someone alive. I hoped with all my being that this would not be a faithful representation of reality and, alas, I found myself unable to keep that hope going. What I liked most was the subtle depiction of so many issues that are exponentially more salient today.Watch this. It feels a bit dated, but not as much as it should have, considering it was made 65 years ago. Glad I found this little cinematographic gem.

In this Ealing comedy, Alec Guinness plays an eccentric even a naive chemist who develops surreptitiously a fabric that stays clean and does not wear out.The result, textile firms are hostile to his invention because the new product would put them out of business, so they want to buy his invention and suppress it. The workers are hostile because it will put them out of jobs. If clothes last forever, then more people and looms are not needed to make it.Through it all, Guinness carries on bemused as to why are so many people are upset, displaying little knowledge of the economic realities of life.The film is a political and social satire, although it may had once been sharp but has blunted over time, it still has relevance even now. We have cars these days that are more powerful, has more gadgets and controls and more reliable than before with extra long warranties. This means we change cars less often to the chagrin of automobile makers but its good for the consumer.However here the central concept is hard to take. The brilliant white suit looks unfashionable (and people tend to change clothes because fashion changes so often) and its hard to side with Guinness whose character appears to be cold, naive, odd, endearing but stupid as well. How he thinks the world would fall at its feet with the new invention is hard to fathom. Also there has been no proper product testing, very much like the white suit you can sense it will unravel.

Absolutely sparkling Ealing comedy effortlessly weaving (no pun intended) some apposite social comment into the entertainment. The example of the material that never gets dirty could be applied to an sought-after social remedy and makes you wonder for example, Big Pharma would tell us if a cheap cure for cancer was found or if the oil multi-nationals found a cheap alternative to oil. Of course they would, or would they, but the superb twist here is that the trade unions turn on Guinness's Sydney Stratton character too, making the telling point that no-one is above putting their personal self interests above the greater good. With dialogue sharper than the cut of Alec Guinness's suit and wonderful acting from every actor, right down to the little girl whom he befriends, it's an absolute treat to watch, with a wonderful bitter-sweet conclusion that couldn't be bettered in terms of apt-ness and pithiness, it's almost as if the literally unravelling of Stratton's idealistic dream breaks the spell which has turned his pursuers, a motley crew of management and workers into a baying mob. Yes, one or two of the characters are perhaps over-exaggerated, like the textile magnate Sir John or the self-serving shop steward, but this is satire after all and I guess it's their blackness which all the more points up Stratton's unblemished idealism. Guinness is marvellous as the impish boffin who won't be bought off and Alexander McKendrick's direction is beautifully paced, expertly mixing humour with narrative flair. With its timeless dissection of human motives it could hardly be bettered and shows the Ealing Comedies as the natural heir with its mix of commentary and comedy to Hollywood's Frank Capra.