The Man in the White Suit (1951)

Director:

Alexander Mackendrick

Writers:

Roger MacDougall (play)
Roger MacDougall (screenplay)

Release Date:

April 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Sci-Fi | Drama

Tagline:

Guinness is Back...Working Wonders With Wile, Whimsey and Wit!

Plot:

An altruistic chemist invents a fabric that resists wear and stain as boon to humanity but both capital and labor realize it must be suppressed for economic reasons.

Plot Keywords:

Social Commentary | Progress | Washer Woman | Research Lab | Textiles

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Alec Guinness	...	Sidney Stratton
Joan Greenwood	...	Daphne Birnley
Cecil Parker	...	Alan Birnley
Michael Gough	...	Michael Corland
Ernest Thesiger	...	Sir John Kierlaw
Howard Marion-Crawford	...	Cranford (as Howard Marion Crawford)
Henry Mollison	...	Hoskins
Vida Hope	...	Bertha
Patric Doonan	...	Frank
Duncan Lamont	...	Harry
Harold Goodwin	...	Wilkins
Colin Gordon	...	Hill
Joan Harben	...	Miss Johnson
Arthur Howard	...	Roberts
Roddy Hughes	...	Green

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Iceland:L | UK:U | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Brimsdown Station, Enfield, Middlesex, England, UK

Company:

Ealing Studios

Trivia:

The sounds of Stratton's experiment were later set to music and released as "The White Suit Samba".

Goofs:

Continuity: When Mr. Harrison is called by a woman because he is wanted by Mr. Corland, he is blowing into a glass vial on a side counter which was not there in the previous shot.

Quotes:

Bertha, Birnley Mill worker: [describing Sidney] ... flotsam floating on the floodtide of profit.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Just a Minute: (#2.2)" (1994)

Great Satire

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.....