The Man in the White Suit

The quietly brilliant satire called THE MAN IN THE WHITE SUIT from 1951 manages a brisk takedown of both Marxism and capitalism in under ninety minutes.  This stylish but always efficiently directed dramatic farce finds its protagonist caught between greedy industrialists and the labor who toil for them. A truly lonely place, one where a smart fellow like Sidney Stratton (Alec Guinness) ends up following his perfection of a fiber that repels debris and does not suffer wear.  Imagine the consequences for Capital and Labor alike!   It has to be stopped!

It's another gem for Ealing Studios.  Writer/director Alexander Mackendrick fashions a perfectly mounted story that manages to even incorporate elements of science fiction with its dramedy.  Stratton gives us a brief lesson in chemistry as his trials and errors lead to his frequent firings from textile mills in Northern England. His craftiness, fed by obsession, leads him to Birnley Mill, where he hires on in the factory and sneaks in some research.  His knowledge impresses his betters and soon they accommodate his experiments. Once he creates a flask of the indestructible material, he's deemed a genius.  Further experiments are subsidized and tolerated, even after the lab explodes several times.  Part of the composition of said material is radioactive. That explains why the suit of the film's title glows in the dark.

THE MAN IN THE WHITE SUIT often plays as a (literal) door slamming comedy, mainly in the mansion of Alan Birney (Cecil Parker), CEO of the mill.  His daughter Daphne (Joan Greenwood) plays Sidney's friend and cheerleader, and is called upon for her considerable wiles to get Stratton to sign that damned contract, so the Capitalists can suppress the invention, of course.  What would happen if the public bought a garment that never wears out or gets dirty?  But Sidney won't settle so easily.  And in this movie there is always an element of seriousness, mixing nicely with the merriment.

Mackendrick and his cast are so deft, working with ingenious material.  Even in the broad comedic business. Note how Sidney finds himself (at different times) trapped in rooms both in the industrialist's quarters and his old run down flat (where he's captured by his fellow labourers).  Also, that helpful little girl.  The denouement and very last scenes are things of beauty.