The Man in the White Suit
THE MAN IN THE WHITE SUIT (U)
D: Alexander Mackendrick
Ealing (Michael Balcon)
UK 1951
85 mins
Comedy
W: Roger MacDougall, John Dighton & Alexander
Mackendrick [based on the play by Roger MacDougall]
DP: Douglas Slocombe
Ed: Bernard Gribble
Mus: Benjamin Frankel
Alec Guinness (Sidney Stratton), Joan
Greenwood (Daphne Birnley), Cecil Parker (Alan Bimley), Michael Gough (Michael Corland), Ernest Thesiger (Sir John Kierlaw)
The Man In The White Suit is amongst the finest works to
emerge from Ealing Studios, and though it's not quite on the same level as The Lavender Hill Mob or The Ladykillers, this is simply because it's a completely different kind of
comedy.
Played as a farce, it's a satire on business, advancements
in science and technology and commercialism & consumerism in general.
Alec Guinness plays an eccentric scientist who constantly
finds himself fired from textile factories, but upon inventing an indestructible material which never gets dirty he finds himself a very wanted man, albeit not exactly the reasons he had in
mind.
The screenplay, based on the play by Roger MacDougall is
pure genius, and the lead performance by Alec Guinness is an absolute treat.
Obviously, it's quite dated now, but still stands out of
one of the best British comedies of the 1950's.
8/10
