The Man in the White Suit (1951)

The Man in the White Suit
Directed by Alexander Mackendrick
Written by Roger MacDougall, John Dighton, and Alexander Mackendrick from MacDougall’s play
1951/UK
Ealing Studios
Repeat viewing/Amazon Instant

[box] Sir John Kierlaw: Now. Some fool has invented an indestructible cloth. Where is he? How much does he want?[/box]

This biting satire might be my favorite of the Ealing comedies.

Sidney Stratton (Alec Guinness) is an Oxford graduate in chemistry and a bit of an eccentric genius.  He works in a textile mill laboratory where he spends most of his time working on his own experiments and racking up expenses.  After he is fired, he goes to another mill as a laborer and sneaks into the lab during off hours.  By chance he meets  Daphne (Joan Greenwood), the mill owner’s daughter, and explains his experiments to her.  The canny lass sees their value immediately and talks her father into giving Sidney free reign in the lab.

After several missteps, Sidney is able to announce his invention of a textile that will never wear out or get dirty.  The mill owner calls a press conference to announce this triumph. Before it can take place, ancient and ruthless industry titan Sir John Kierlaw (Ernest Thesinger) finds out and realizes that the fabric absolutely must be suppressed.  Labor is up in arms over the potential loss of jobs.  Since Sidney cannot be bought off, he is locked up.  After he escapes, the chase is on.

Once you know that Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood and Ernest Thesinger are all appearing together, it is almost a given that I will love a film.  And this one is so clever!  The rapaciousness of industry is absolutely delicious.  I also love the woman labor leader who has a soft spot for Sidney.  Recommended.

The Man in the White Suit was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Writing, Screenplay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqNBFTEtFlE

Trailer