The Man in the White Suit

Sidney Stratton is a low-ranking chemist at a textile mill whom nobody takes seriously. He sets up a laboratory in secret and invents a fibre: it does not stain, does not wear and never tears. The mill owners are delighted at first. Then they realise what it means: nobody will ever buy cloth again. The subject is not the invention but bosses and workers ending up on the same side. The union and the manufacturers both want Sidney stopped, one losing profit and the other losing work. The film's hardest joke is how fast that alliance forms. The form is Ealing comedy: quick, orderly, and aimed at institutions. The apparatus in Sidney's laboratory makes a distinctive noise; that burbling became one of the most recognised sound effects in cinema and was produced in the studio out of assorted instruments and objects. Alexander Mackendrick directs. The film was nominated for the original screenplay Oscar. The resolution at the end takes back all of its optimism and leaves the question open again. Alec Guinness plays Sidney, Joan Greenwood the manufacturer's daughter and Cecil Parker her father. Who it is for: viewers who like classic British comedy and industrial satire. Who it is not for: anyone wanting a sympathetic hero; Sidney is obstinate and listens to nobody around him.