The Man in the White Suit (1951)

100% of critics liked it
(9 reviews)
78% of users liked it
(3,444 ratings)

Alec Guinness has one of his finest comic roles in this Ealing satirical comedy about a much patronized amateur scientist whose latest invention creates an uproar in the British textile industry. In the British manufacturing country of Northern England, factory owner Michael Corland (Michael Gough)… More Alec Guinness has one of his finest comic roles in this Ealing satirical comedy about a much patronized amateur scientist whose latest invention creates an uproar in the British textile industry. In the British manufacturing country of Northern England, factory owner Michael Corland (Michael Gough) is showing competitor Alan Bimley (Cecil Parker) around his plant, hoping to borrow some money and marry off his daughter Daphne (Joan Greenwood). They come upon a curious contraption that turns out to be an experiment by employee Sidney Stratton (Alec Guinness). Being a lower class worker, Sidney is summarily fired from his job. Sidney ends up working at Bimley's factory, where he is befriended by militant worker Bertha (Vida Hope). Daphne spots Sidney at the factory and he explains to her the results of his experiment -- a material that is indestructible and impervious to dirt. Bimley discovers this project and throws Sidney out. But Daphne, impressed by his experiments, funds Sidney, installing him in his own laboratory. After a few false starts, Sidney develops a pure white material that can't be dirtied or ruined. But it seems Sidney's invention is too brilliant and effective; if a material is marketed that will last forever, textile mills will go out of business and workers will lose their jobs. Suddenly, poor, luckless Sidney has both management and labor banding together to combat his new invention. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 22 min.
Directed By: Alexander Mackendrick
Written By: Roger MacDougall
Genres: Drama, Classics, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Comedy

In Theaters: Mar 31, 1951 Limited
On DVD: Sep 10, 2002
Studio: Universal Pictures

Critic Reviews

Christopher Lloyd, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Alec Guinness' sharp bird nose and watery eyes helped him play characters who were misfits on the margins of society. He made for a kindly but stubborn rebel in the Ealing comedies.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
A witty Ealing Studios satirical mad scientist comedy that concerns itself with modern day societal and technological problems.
Mark Bourne, DVDJournal.com
While on the surface it's a comic fable with a sense of humor as dry as a cracker, the movie possesses a sharp edge that rises like a shark fin above the natty British drollery.
Mark Bourne, DVDJournal.com
Anchor Bay's DVD release ... rightfully honors both Guinness and the Ealing comedies from the '40s and '50s. Cinematographer Douglas Slocombe's work is preserved in a print that is a thing of beauty...
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Clever Ealing comedy, though perhaps not as great as its legend.

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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

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Featured Audience Ratings

Cassandra M

"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.… More
"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.
Jeremy S

Another great Ealing Comedy, with the star of the studio, Alec Guiness always teriffic in the productions. Not as great as previoious ealing productions, such as Kind Hearts and Coronets, but still a must see, for British comedy and Ealing fans.
xGary X

Gently amusing satire of capitalist corporations, probably before the term had even been invented. I'm not the biggest fan of Ealing, but it's light comedy with a brain.
Lauren D

I thought it was pretty dull to be honest. I thought it was meant to be just sci-fi, but it turned out it was a sci-fi comedy, which usually don't work. And it didn't. It wasn't funny, and it was just boring.
Marion R

It was just okay
Barry L

Brilliant.

Read all 6 featured audience ratings

Cast

            Alec Guinness as Sidney Stratton

            Joan Greenwood as Daphne Birnley

            Cecil Parker as Alan Birnley

            Michael Gough as Michael Corland

            Ernst Thesiger as Sir John Kierlaw

            Vida Hope as Bertha

            Henry Mollison as Hoskins

            Patric Doonan as Frank

            Duncan Lamont as Harry

            Harold Goodwin as Wilkins

            Colin Gordon as Hill

            Joan Harben as Miss Johnson

            Arthur Howard as Roberts

            Roddy Hughes as Green/Roberts

            Stuart Latham as Harrison

            Miles Malleson as Tailor

            Frank Atkinson as Baker

            George Benson as The Lodger

            Howard Marion-Crawford as Cranford

            Charles Cullum as First Company Director

            Judith Furse as Nurse Gamage

            Edie Martin as Mrs. Watson

            Jack McNaughton as Taxi Driver

            Mandy Miller as Gladdie

            Charlotte Mitchell as Mill Girl

            Des Roberts as Mannering

            Ewan Roberts as Fotheringay

            Russell Waters as Davidson

            Brian Worth as King

            Bill Russell as Night Watchman

            Harold E. Scott as Express Reporter

            Jack Howard
            
            Olaf Olsen as Knudsen

            John Rudling as Wilson

            Charles Saynor as Pete

            F.B.J. Sharp
            
            Alec Guiness
            
            Ernest Thesiger
            
See full cast