Ensofter Overrated and overhyped

Lumsdal Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

BallWubba Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Jackson Booth-Millard I had heard about this classic film title because of the leading actor, the title made it obvious what is was about, but I didn't know what the context was. I found out it was from Ealing Studios, famous for Kind Hearts and Coronets and The Lavender Hill Mob, and critics gave it good ratings, so I hoped it would be worthwhile, directed by Alexander Mackendrick (Whisky Galore!, The Ladykillers, Sweet Smell of Success). Basically former Cambridge scholarship recipient and humble inventor and scientist Sidney Stratton (Sir Alec Guinness) has been dismissed from jobs at several textile mills in the north of England. Stratton has demands for expensive facilities and an obsession with inventing an everlasting fibre. Whilst working as a labourer at the Birnley Mill, he accidentally becomes an unpaid researcher and invents an incredibly strong fibre which repels dirt and never wears out. From this fabric, a brilliant white suit is made, it cannot absorb dye and is slightly luminous because it includes radioactive elements. Stratton is praised as a genius, but management and the trade unions realise the consequence of his invention, the demand for cloth will decrease and it could put the textile industry out of business. The managers try to trick and bribe Stratton into signing away the rights to his invention, but he refuses, then they and workers try to shut him away, but he escapes. Stratton is pursued by both the managers and the employers, he runs whilst wearing the glowing white suit during the night, but it begins to fall apart as the chemical structure of the fibre breaks down with time. Realising the flaw in the process, the mob triumphantly rip pieces off Stratton's suit, until he is left only wearing his underwear, only the mill-owner's daughter Daphne Birnley (Joan Greenwood) and fellow labourer Bertha (Vida Hope) have sympathy for his disappointment. The next day, Stratton is dismissed from his job, he consults his chemistry notes as he departs, he has a realisation and exclaims "I see!", he strides off, perhaps to try again somewhere else. Also starring Cecil Parker as Alan Birnley, Michael Gough as Michael Corland and Bride of Frankenstein's Ernest Thesiger as Sir John Kierlaw. Guinness is likeable as the quiet, good-natured boffin, this is essentially a story of greed, professional jealousy and fear of progress, I could just about follow everything going on, the white suit stuff is certainly interesting, but I will be honest, I didn't find myself laughing very much, but it is reasonable classic science-fiction satirical comedy. Worth watching, in my opinion!

Prismark10 In this Ealing comedy, Alec Guinness plays an eccentric even a naive chemist who develops surreptitiously a fabric that stays clean and does not wear out.The result, textile firms are hostile to his invention because the new product would put them out of business, so they want to buy his invention and suppress it. The workers are hostile because it will put them out of jobs. If clothes last forever, then more people and looms are not needed to make it.Through it all, Guinness carries on bemused as to why are so many people are upset, displaying little knowledge of the economic realities of life.The film is a political and social satire, although it may had once been sharp but has blunted over time, it still has relevance even now. We have cars these days that are more powerful, has more gadgets and controls and more reliable than before with extra long warranties. This means we change cars less often to the chagrin of automobile makers but its good for the consumer.However here the central concept is hard to take. The brilliant white suit looks unfashionable (and people tend to change clothes because fashion changes so often) and its hard to side with Guinness whose character appears to be cold, naive, odd, endearing but stupid as well. How he thinks the world would fall at its feet with the new invention is hard to fathom. Also there has been no proper product testing, very much like the white suit you can sense it will unravel.

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.

lasttimeisaw An Ealing Studio's satire on capital and labor's aligned suppression towards the revolutionary invention of an unbreakable and dirt-free fabric. A Cambridge graduate (Guinness) is debarred from a short-sighted garment manufacturer (Gough) to proceed his research, but with the help of another industrialist's daughter (Greenwood), he is financed by her father and unprecedentedly invents the fabric, which he thinks can benefit all mankind but both the workmen and their high-handed authority figures say otherwise, then a series of cat-and-mouse games ensues until an Achilles heel of the magical fabric pops out of left field ends the farce with everyone is happy except our protagonist. Running snappily around 85 minutes, the story is unfolding concisely and takes an interesting turn after the cringe-worthy sequences of a nobody requests to meet an affluent personage but is routinely fended off by a hoity-toity butler. Guinness extracts a creditable poise of innocence and innocuousness besides a nerd's impulsion of his scientific pursuit, and one can read more through his inscrutable eyes. Greenwood is the darling girl here, clears barriers for Guinness when he is in trouble, a rarefied paragon from the upper class, even single-handedly engineers a persuasive feeler in the crucial moment. Vida Hope belongs to the opposite working class, who holds a secret admiration toward Guinness, and her rough and strong-arm simplicity is spot-on. Cecil Parker has a comical presence as an oscillating pushover, and a vulture-alike Ernest Thesiger has a grandstanding entrance as the mogul and decision-maker in the business. Director Mackendrick and DP Slocombe utilizes a great contrast of Black & White cinematography to accentuate the luminous white suit, particularly in the chase set pieces. THE MAN IN THE WHITE SUIT is a prescient allegory tale which pinpoints the discovery of something new will upset the delicate market and self-seeking masses, it leaves a bitter taste for this technology-advanced era and meanwhile, it is an ingenious comedy deserves multiple watches anytime, anywhere.