"THE MAN IN THE WHITE SUIT" (1951)

Starring

Alec Guinness

Joan Greenwood

Cecil Parker

Michael Gough

Ernest Thesiger

Howard Marion-Crawford

Directed by Alexander Mackendrick

81 minutes

I’m going to state right away that "The Man in the White Suit" isn’t merely just the best Ealing comedy, it’s one of the very best films ever made, hovering around in me personal top 10. What might appear on the surface to be a light run-around with Alec Guinness opposing the textiles industry of Britain, as one might be led to expect as soon as the "Ealing comedy" label is displayed (seemingly synonymous with light, breezy and old fashioned fun, despite the huge evidence to the contrary – see "The Ladykillers" and "Kind Hearts and Coronets"), this rather short film turns out to be so much better than that.

I bought the two Ealing comedy DVD sets a while ago simply on the strength of the names Peter Sellers and Alastair Sim (both of whom appear in one film each, in a total of seven), though I knew Alec Guinness as being a great actor by repute, even though my only real knowledge of him was a rather splendid turn in "Murder by Death" and his mysterious Obi Wan Kenobi of the "Star Wars" trilogy, which I hadn’t seen in years. Plus the sets were £20 each in the HMV sale, so that finally swayed me. I very quickly decided that "The Man in the White Suit" was the best of the collection, thinking it to be top quality even after one viewing. Some films take a while to really grow on me – I can distinctly remember writing a sniffy review of "Dr. Strangelove" a few years ago, a film I now regard, as do many others, as one of the best and most gripping satires ever produced by the film industry. However, this cynical and very biting swipe at British commerce, several years before the arguably more famous "I’m All Right Jack" of 1959, immediately struck a chord with me, and even after last night, where I watched it for the sixth time, it remains a great favourite of mine.

I have gone on record before, elsewhere on this site in fact, as stating that the "comedy" aspect of the "Ealing comedies" is distinctly muted, with only a few reaching the mark of being consistently and genuinely humorous – I’ve always liked them very much, but never really reckoned them as being particularly funny. I haven’t changed my outlook on this summation, though I will say that "White Suit" is funnier than I may have previously made out in the past. However, curiously it probably works far better when the comedy is pushed into the background, or not made as obvious. Most of the biggest laughs come from lines shot off in as dry a manner as possible by some of the most experienced actors of the profession, rather than the occasional moments of farce that pepper the first hour or so. Explosions and chases around various foyers are all well and good, but seem to be treading water, not serving much of an overall purpose except maybe to try and assure us that this is meant to be a comedy. Don’t get me wrong, there is never a single moment in this film that comes off as bad, or overdone – it’s just that less is more when we get the choice. Cecil Parker’s plaintive whimper of "They worry about losing their jobs, and so they down tools!", or the obviously sickening sentimentality of "Now, as so often in the past, each needs the help of the other…", is funnier than large polystyrene blocks falling on an office worker’s bonce.

Alec Guinness plays Sidney Stratton, a self made scientist devoted to his experiments on creating a long chain molecule that could be used to make a fabric that never wears out and repels dirt. Nobody seems to want to know, and his attempts seem initially fruitless. However, eventually the Birnley Textile Mill’s chief executive, played by the always wonderfully witty Cecil Parker, is brought round to his way of thinking, especially after considering the profits he’ll be making if his Mill controls the output of the fabric. But there are rumblings in the industry, and a tale of double standards and suppression is spun, with poor Stratton at the centre of it all.

"White Suit" is often rather bleak, and the viewer, who’s sympathy is instantly gained by the bravura performance of Guinness, feels crushed when Stratton faces the next of many obstacles, just when things seem to be going his way. Guinness really is superb here, almost deceptively so. He’s so quiet that at times he appears to be deliberately underplaying it, which works in the film’s favour. Stratton is so involved in his objective that he appears oblivious to everything else – he’s never deliberately rude, he just has things on his mind. Most of it is conveyed through his eyes, which are wide with fascination throughout. When he actually succeeds at making the fabric (twice), his joy is palpable and rather lovely to behold. He also gets some rather cracking lines, my favourite being "You can’t fire me, I don’t work here!" Its mainly thanks to Guinness that a real sense of urgency is generated towards the closing stages, and it gets to the point where you really don’t know whether its going to end nicely or not.

Continuing the theme of subverting expectations, we have a leading female character made from a different mould from the majority of lady characters in films of the time, and wonderfully played by Joan Greenwood, with one of the most glamorous and thrilling voices of cinema. Though from the outset appearing as the fawning, subservient snobbish daughter of her father, Cecil Parker, complete with copious "Daddy!"’s and a relationship with opposing firm’s executive Michael Gough. However, her meeting with Stratton opens her eyes to more and more, and she is the first (and, in some ways, only) person to place herself firmly on his side – though not just through his words, through personal scientific research through a set of encyclopaedias; she doesn’t just take his word for it. Later she takes a firm stand against the pigheadedness of her father in a rather electric confrontation ("Maybe he’s talking through his hat… or maybe he has done it, maybe you’re talking through yours!"), and returns an attempted coercion to get involved in a sort of entrapment to gain Stratton’s silence with the simple "What do I get out of it?" She’s not doing it to gain the respect and appreciation of her elders – she’s doing it for the money! You go, girl! Hurrah! Fair enough, she does fancy Stratton a little bit as well, but it’s hardly a gooey 50s style romance. Its something of a rarity to find a strong female in these films who doesn’t soften up as the running time draws to a close, but Greenwood plays her part to perfection. And that really is an awfully perspiring-inducing voice. A voice like that drifting across the sheets would get any hot-blooded male’s hair standing on end. My word, yes.

The direction also deserves a mention, with shadows being used marvellously to obscure character’s faces, and to hint at the darker sides to their nature (and practically everybody in this film has got one that reveals itself towards the end). The climactic chase sequence might very well have you on the edge of your seat. The musical score is also quite splendid, the main theme tune being particularly stirring. And no review of this film can get by without mentioning the "bloop bloop bleep bloop" sounds emitted by Stratton’s machine, possibly one of the most recognisable sound effects ever created. That’ll have the teddy boys dancing away, that will.

In conclusion, I’m just going repeat what I said at the beginning of this review – "The Man in the White Suit" is 81 minutes of sheer brilliance, with a great plot, great cast, and some sparkling wit and healthy dollops of cynicism. Excellent.