El hombre del traje blanco

Alec Guinness is a genius who is beyond geekiness, he's obsessive. He lives in poverty and obscurity, he takes dead-end jobs that barely pay the rent, all so that he can complete his research and present the weary post-WWII world with a miracle: A fabric that will never get dirty, wrinkle, or wear out. Nobody will ever have to do laundry, iron, or spend for new clothes ever again. Of course, when he tries to start production not only do the captains of industry realize that it'll put them out of business, so do the unions. Chaos ensues, to say the least.

A very funny film, in that particularly witty, intelligent, satirical, slightly evil style found in the best post-war British films. This film is worthy to stand with "Kind Hearts and Coronets" and "The Lavender Hill Mob", all made by Ealing Studios and starring the subtle Alec Guinness.

"Man in the White Suit" is perhaps, along with "Kind Hearts and Coronets," the pinnacle of the Ealing film. It's a very sophisticated and subtle comedy/farce that takes a dig at a number of the cultural institutions that characterise northern England. It's not so much a satire directed at capitalism but an opprobrium of the suspicious relationship between capital and labour and the broader unworkable relationship of commercial achievement with scientific progress. The success of the film resides in the subtlety with which these issues are explored and the even-handedness by which they are dealt with. At a more basic level the film is an excellent example of a farce as the frustration, misinterpretation and exaggerated comedy are delivered with a breath-taking pace. Very well written, even better direction and uniformly spot-on performances make this one of the great British films of the 1950s.

When I learned of Sir Alec Guinness' death, this was the first of his many films I thought of re-seeing. What a wonderful droll commentary the film provides even after all these years. And Guinness helps to weave the charm into every frame. His eyes and face are as luminous as that white suit he wears. Both he and the film have to be considered lifetime favorites.

I couldn't believe the perfection of this movie. It's so tightly made that nothing is superfluous in its entire run. The dialogs are perfect, witty, sharp, funny; the main idea for the script is superb (to invent a product that defies obsolescence is a No-No in contemporary industry) and the actors are absolute perfection thanks to their own art plus a firm and secure direction by Alexander Mackendrick.

I didn't find Alec Guinness role particularly funny but I found the Elderly Industry Boss (Ernest Thesiger from legendary "The Bride of Frankestein") simply a scream. Every scene he's in, he steals it completely, nobody else exists on the screen. What an actor!

Joan Greenwood was the kind of personality that we only see once in a century. Her voice and delivery are something impossible to duplicate and thoroughly unique. The only wrong thing with her in this movie was her hairdo. Did she comb it herself without looking in a mirror before the first day of shooting and never again till they were through filming? Did she get a hairdressing student rejected by the beauty school? Her hairdo is too dreary to be unintentional.

A fantastic movie, entertaining from beginning to end, with a very clever twist impossible to predict and resolved precisely at the right moment and by a perfectly acceptable chemical explanation. A film that only the British could have made with their sensational Black Humor that nobody else can imitate. You'll find the look of this movie quite old fashioned, but having been made in 1951 we cannot expect anything different right? forget about its looks, sit down, watch it and you'll be thrilled to have discovered this precious jewel of a film.

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.....