Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

It's settled, I need to see everything Alec Guinness has ever done. It pains me that I have been ignorant of Alec Guinness for 27 years of my life. I will surely be making up for that because he truly steals every scene he is in. The Man in the White Suit shows Guinness as an inventor who has dedicated himself to inventing something that will help mankind. Guinness starred in The Man in the White Suit with Joan Greenwood in Alexander Mackendrick's 1951 feature. Billed as both a drama and a comedy, The Man in the White Suit has several funny moments while also taking a hard look at the economic system and who it holds captive, both those within the system and enslaved by it.Sidney Stratton (Alec Guinness) has a hard time keeping a job. He is an inventor who is much more concerned with his own scientific pursuits than those of his employers. The meek, humble inventor truly wants to create something good for everyone. After much experimentation, Sidney develops a cloth that will not ever wear out or get dirty. Seeing this as a great thing, thinking about the impoverished people living around him, and how much they would benefit from such a fabric. In developing his fabric, however, Sidney may have created an economic catastrophe. The money generated from his invention would be a one-time gain. After the public initially bought this fabric, they would never have to buy anymore again. This would spell disaster for the textile industry who would all but be put out of business. Clothing repair businesses would be out of work as well once everyone owned a fabric that never needed to be mended. Sidney remains steadfast in his pursuit to distribute this fabric, which soon puts him head to head with factory owners all around him who will stop at nothing to stop him and his invention. Alec Guinness's incredible characterization of Sidney Stratton is definitely what audiences will most remember about The Man in the White Suit. Guinness steals every scene he is in, even if he doesn't speak. Alec Guinness is truly a national treasure, a phenomenal acting talent that should be viewed as much as possible. The production design goes a long way in aiding to Guinness's excellent portrayal. Each set played with space and lines in an incredible way. The early factory scenes showed Guinness cramped in workspaces, illustrating how poorly he fit into the current system around him. I was stricken by how beautifully shot the film was, considering it is billed as a comedy. Comedies really don't get the credit they deserve as an artform within cinema. Most comedies of today can convince anyone that there is nothing much of merit about them, but certainly, the comedies of the golden age gave audiences much more to take home after the film was over. Guinness was hilarious in this film with his nervous facial expressions and timid actions, what is incredible is that that same character is responsible for also exploring how the economy is holding back innovation. The Man in the White Suit does an excellent job of being lighthearted when necessary but also being a heavy-hitting examination of the perils of innovation and who suffers unintended consequences of well- meaning inventions. Such an important investigation of the battle between man and company, The Man in the White Suit is a must-see.

Hailed as one of Ealing studio's finest comedies, 'The man in the white suit' chose an exceptional topic to depict the British textile industry's reluctance to embrace modernity. Although many comic scenes have been included in this film, its first half is deemed rather slow as it concentrates more on a scientific breakthrough by a wacky inventor. Some pace is gathered in the second half as the hero is able to bring his invention to fruition. However, this is the beginning of a series of misfortunes for the eccentric inventor as everybody would like to protect one's interests before anything else. The hapless inventor is no match for rich textile mill owners nor does he have any power to influence representatives of the labor unions. Both powerful sides would like to subjugate the madcap scientist as his invention would bring about their ruin. Apart from actor Alec Guiness as the wacky inventor, viewers must look out for funny sounds coming from the laboratory. Lastly, the tone of the film is light and it makes good use of its love story format to give crucial help to the irrational inventor when a textile mill owner's daughter falls in love with him.

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.

Absolutely sparkling Ealing comedy effortlessly weaving (no pun intended) some apposite social comment into the entertainment. The example of the material that never gets dirty could be applied to an sought-after social remedy and makes you wonder for example, Big Pharma would tell us if a cheap cure for cancer was found or if the oil multi-nationals found a cheap alternative to oil. Of course they would, or would they, but the superb twist here is that the trade unions turn on Guinness's Sydney Stratton character too, making the telling point that no-one is above putting their personal self interests above the greater good. With dialogue sharper than the cut of Alec Guinness's suit and wonderful acting from every actor, right down to the little girl whom he befriends, it's an absolute treat to watch, with a wonderful bitter-sweet conclusion that couldn't be bettered in terms of apt-ness and pithiness, it's almost as if the literally unravelling of Stratton's idealistic dream breaks the spell which has turned his pursuers, a motley crew of management and workers into a baying mob. Yes, one or two of the characters are perhaps over-exaggerated, like the textile magnate Sir John or the self-serving shop steward, but this is satire after all and I guess it's their blackness which all the more points up Stratton's unblemished idealism. Guinness is marvellous as the impish boffin who won't be bought off and Alexander McKendrick's direction is beautifully paced, expertly mixing humour with narrative flair. With its timeless dissection of human motives it could hardly be bettered and shows the Ealing Comedies as the natural heir with its mix of commentary and comedy to Hollywood's Frank Capra.