L'homme au complet blanc

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.

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.

The Man in the White Suit is one of those delightful comedies that Ealing studies made so well in the 40's and 50's. The plot of this one follows a man that invents a cloth that neither gets dirty nor breaks. Of course, this is a huge breakthrough in the world of textiles. However, things are not that simple as the cloth will threaten the way of life of many people, including cloth manufacturers, the cloth mill's workforces, and even an old lady that does her washing every week. The Man in the White Suit is a film about scientific advances, and the way that they don't always help; as the old woman says at one point in the movie, "Why cant you scientists just leave things alone?"

Like a lot Ealing comedies, this one stars Sir Alec Guinness. Alec Guinness is a fantastic actor; he has the ability to light up the screen with his presence (and he does in this film, literally), but he also manages to portray his characters in a down to earth and believable way. He is suitably creepy in this film, and he captures just the right atmosphere for his character; an intelligent and ambitious, but slightly naive scientist. Along with Guinness, The Man in the White Suit also features Joan Greenwood, the deep voiced actress that co-starred with Guinness in the simply divine "Kind Hearts and Coronets" and Michael Gough, a man that would go on to get himself the role of Alfred in the Batman films. The acting in the film isn't always great, but it is always decent, and it's fits with the film.

The Man in the White Suit is an intelligent, thought-provoking and witty comedy with a moral. The comedy isn't always obvious, and it doesn't always work, but the film is not meant to be a film that provokes belly laughs, so that is forgivable. I recommend this movie, basically, to anyone that is a fan of movies.

"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.

Over the years, I've seen this film many times on PBS. It never fails to shock me. I can't believe such an old film could be so subversive, cynical and anti-capitalist. I guess 'cause I'm an American and we seem to have had rather strict codes about such things here. Even though I am a die hard Star Wars fan, this began my love of Alec Guinness. I highly recommend it.