The Man in the White Suit

The Man in the White Suit
DVD release cover
Directed by	Alexander Mackendrick
Produced by	Michael Balcon
Written by	John Dighton Roger MacDougall Alexander Mackendrick
Starring	Alec Guinness Joan Greenwood Cecil Parker
Music by	Benjamin Frankel
Cinematography	Douglas Slocombe
Edited by	Bernard Gribble
Production company	Ealing Studios
Distributed by	General Film Distributors
Release dates	7 August 1951
Running time	85 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

The Man In The White Suit is a 1951 science-fiction satirical comedy film made by Ealing Studios. It starred Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood and Cecil Parker and was directed by Alexander Mackendrick. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing (Screenplay) for Roger MacDougall, John Dighton and Alexander Mackendrick (who was a cousin of Roger MacDougall).

It followed a common Ealing Studios theme of the "common man" against the Establishment. In this instance the hero falls foul of both trade unions and the wealthy mill owners who attempt to suppress his invention.^[1]

Plot

Sidney Stratton, a brilliant young research chemist and former Cambridge scholarship recipient, has been dismissed from jobs at several textile mills in the north of England because of his demands for expensive facilities and his obsession with inventing an everlasting fibre. Whilst working as a labourer at the Birnley Mill, he accidentally becomes an unpaid researcher and invents an incredibly strong fibre which repels dirt and never wears out. From this fabric, a suit is made—which is brilliant white because it cannot absorb dye and slightly luminous because it includes radioactive elements.

Stratton is lauded as a genius until both management and the trade unions realise the consequence of his invention; once consumers have purchased enough cloth, demand will drop precipitously and put the textile industry out of business. The managers try to trick and bribe Stratton into signing away the rights to his invention but he refuses. Managers and workers each try to shut him away, but he escapes.

The climax sees Stratton running through the streets at night in his glowing white suit, pursued by both the managers and the employees. As the crowd advances, his suit begins to fall apart as the chemical structure of the fibre breaks down with time. The mob, realising the flaw in the process, rip pieces off his suit in triumph, until he is left standing in his underwear. Only Daphne Birnley, the mill-owner's daughter, and Bertha, a works labourer, have sympathy for his disappointment.

The next day, Stratton is dismissed from his job. Departing, he consults his chemistry notes. A realisation hits and he exclaims, "I see!" With that he strides off, perhaps to try again elsewhere.

Cast

Reception

It was one of the most popular films of the year in Britain.^[2] The British Film Institute named it the 58th greatest British film of all time. In 2014 The Guardian included it as one of the 20 best British science fiction films.^[3]

References

Further reading

• The Great British Films, pp 153–155, Jerry Vermilye, 1978, Citadel Press, ISBN 0-8065-0661-X

External links

• The Man in the White Suit at the Internet Movie Database
• The Man in the White Suit at Rotten Tomatoes