Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

DubyaHan The movie is wildly uneven but lively and timely - in its own surreal way

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

David M. Behrman This film should be used in college classes to demonstrate the contradictions of the "free market". Alec Guinness' character, a chemist in a fabric manufacturing plant, is the archetypal scientific nerd, singularly focused on developing his miracle thread -- repels dirt and is indestructible. And he finally does ... much to the dismay of those in the industry who depend on the fabric status quo to stay in business.Imagine if a pharmaceutical scientist developed a single pill that cured all illnesses ... how would the rest of the pharmaceutical industry respond?The realization of dreams of perfection will always be resisted by those who profit from imperfection. "The Man In The White Suit" makes this perfectly clear.

l_rawjalaurence Produced at the time of the Festival of Britain, a period when Britain was trying to show itself in its most positive light, THE MAN IN THE WHITE SUIT offers a gentle, if pointed corrective. Sidney Stratton's (Alec Guinness') wonderful invention of a suit that never needs washing, and never wears out, threatens the entire future of the British cotton industry and needs to be suppressed. For perhaps the first - and only time - the mill-owners, led by Cecil Parker's Mr. Birnley and Ernest Thesiger's hawk-like Sir John, unite with the workers to frustrate Stratton's plans of success and hence ensure that "the delicate balance of interests" (i.e. the industrial status quo) is maintained. The fact that the cotton industry no longer really exists in Britain is one of the ironies of history; it was chiefly due to an ostrich-like reluctance to change that Britain was overtaken by other countries in Asia. As Parker's narrator accurately foretells right at the end of the film, the Sidney Strattons of this world did achieve what they wanted in the end. Alexander Mackendrick's film is tightly structured with some memorable cinematography by Douglas Slocombe; there are at least two aerial shots of the mill-owners and Sir John gathered in one room, where they resemble predatory beasts ganging up on the luckless Sidney. The chase- sequences are also cleverly handled, with several shots of Sidney's pursuers running down corridors or darkened alleyways. Benjamin Frankel's music, with its memorable theme of the bubbling of Sidney's scientific experiments, reminds us of just how successful and threatening human endeavors can be. Mackendrick also gets some memorable character-vignettes out of Parker - never better in his customary role as a bumbling yet pompous industrialist, Thesiger (screaming "wait for me!" as he relishes the prospect of chasing Sidney, and is bundled into a worker's car), and Joan Greenwood, reprising her role as an incredibly polite yet potent predator from KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS (1949). In the central role, Guinness is remarkably active; his obsessiveness manifesting itself in his increasingly unkempt appearance, that contrasts with his appearance at the end, when the suit has been torn off him. In his undershirt and pants, he resembles a dying swan. THE MAN IN THE WHITE SUIT is, as with all Ealing comedies, a small-scale film, but one that befits repeated viewings in order to understand its quiet subtleties. A classic.

Spondonman The obvious parallels are that that this is a bright film that never unravels is never once dirty and has stood the test of time. But pity they can't get back to the drawing board and make some more like it because they're now badly needed! One of Ealings handful of super-classics I saw it so often when younger that I got fed up of seeing it – but saw it last night for the first time in over five years and it's still as bright as a button.Idealist fabric technician Alec Guinness invents a new material that will never break, dirty or need replacing as much – much to the concern of the capitalist mill industry owners and the factory wage-slaves dependant on being paid to work for them. Uproarious comedy ensues as both sides see they have to thwart his plans of publishing the Great News. The workers were concerned "every mill in the country will go" – they did anyway so the bosses could make much greater profits from Asian wage-slaves instead. There's so many highlights it's hard to single out a few: the manic opening music for the credits is still riveting; the trials (and tribulations) Guinness had developing the volatile formula in the lab; Capital and Labour looking suspiciously at each other at Cecil Parker's mansion; Joan Greenwood at least finding out about true love; Ernest Thesiger's drawn out laugh or being bundled into the back of the car; the little girl lying to help Guinness escape; but the key scene was Edie Martin carrying her bit of washing in the dark bitterly asking Guinness "why can't you scientists leave things alone" – a poignant thought-provoking moment that stopped him dead in his tracks: comedy over, his dreams in pieces.It's so rich in plot, characterisation, brevity, wit and charm I used to think it was pity a sequel was never made – but although Ealing liked ambiguous endings bless their cotton socks they didn't Do sequels. It's a stand alone classic, almost perfect in every department, a masterclass of how it should be done.

David Traversa 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.