Review #674: 'The Man in the White Suit' (1951)

Just two years after he took everyone's breath away playing eight characters in Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), Alec Guinness continued his successful relationship with Ealing Studios with another iconic performance as eccentric inventor Sidney Stratton in The Man in the White Suit. After being fired from numerous mills throughout the north of England for his expensive research into an everlasting fibre, Sidney joins Birnley Mill. Posing as an unpaid researcher, he makes his breakthrough and creates a fibre that repels dirt and cannot be broken, and makes himself a white suit out of it. Seeing the potential collapse of their industry, capital and workers alike join forces to bring Sidney down.

While watching The Man in the White Suit, it would be easy to pose the question of what exactly is the point of this movie? Ealing had common themes of anti-establishment running through their films of this era, and here the big bosses are shown as pompous, cigar-smoking buffoons, clambering over each other in blind panic. Yet with the invention of Sidney's white suit, the industry will implode, taking down thousands of the working class with it. This is exemplified when Sidney, running through the streets in his luminous white suit to escape the mob, comes across his poor landlady who has been letting him live there rent-free. She sees Sidney's new invention and says "what about my bit of washing when there's no washing to do?" The working class will pay the biggest price if the white suit breaks out.

So, the point is not to make a point, it's to make you think about technological progression. The 40's saw the emergence of the H-bomb that almost single-handedly ended World War II. This was initially seen as a good thing and the ultimate protective weapon. Then other countries began manufacturing them, and the threat of nuclear war prevailed throughout the next few decades. It seems that following technological innovation blindly could have devastating consequences. Yet Sidney goes about his business with a demented determination, initially without a thought about the potential results of his actions. The fact that he is the film's protagonist and (anti?)hero does cause some confusion, but in Guinness's expert hands, Sidney is a delight to watch and even root for.

The supporting cast are strong too, especially Joan Greenwood as Daphne Birnley, the daughter of the tycoon that runs the mill (played by the also excellent Cecil Parker). Her voice is so sultry and her face so beautiful that it's hard to take your eyes off her. The scene in which she tries to seduce Sidney at the request of the united bosses is an acting lesson in subtle sexuality. However, in the context of Ealing's output of this era, The Man in the White Suit falls somewhat short. It's extremely slow-paced and talky, and isn't particularly funny. But it's a clever-clever satire that was way ahead of its time, expertly directed in an unfussy fashion by Alexander Mackendrick.


Directed by: Alexander Mackendrick
Starring: Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood, Cecil Parker, Michael Gough
Country: UK

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie