The Man in the White Suit
Encyclopedia
The Man In The White Suit is a 1951 satirical
comedy film
made by Ealing Studios
. It starred Alec Guinness
, Joan Greenwood
, and Cecil Parker
, and was directed by Alexander Mackendrick
. It followed a common Ealing Studios
theme of the "common man" against the Establishment
. In this instance the hero falls foul of both trade union
s and the wealthy mill owners who attempt to suppress his invention. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing (Screenplay) for Roger MacDougall
, John Dighton
, and Alexander Mackendrick
.
and former Cambridge
scholarship recipient, has been dismissed from jobs at several textile mills in the north of England because of his demands for expensive facilities and his obsession to invent 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 suit is made—which is brilliant white because it cannot absorb dye, and slightly luminous because it includes radioactive elements.
Stratton is lauded as a genius until both management and the trade unions realise the consequence of his invention—once consumers have purchased enough cloth, demand will drop precipitously and put the textile industry out of business. The managers try to trick Stratton into signing away the rights to his invention but he refuses. Managers and workers each try to shut him away, but he escapes.
The climax sees Stratton running through the streets at night in his glowing white suit, pursued by both the managers and the employees. As the crowd advances, his suit begins to fall apart as the chemical structure of the fibre breaks down with time. The mob, realising the flaw in the process, rip pieces off his suit in triumph, until he is left standing in his underwear. Only Daphne Birnley, the mill-owner's daughter, and Bertha, a works labourer, have sympathy for his disappointment.
The next day, Stratton is dismissed from his job. Departing, he consults his chemistry notes. A realisation hits, and he exclaims, "I see!" With that he strides off, perhaps to try again elsewhere.
( as the cider distiller sounds ) in the 2009 film Fantastic Mr. Fox
.
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
made by Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever since...
. It starred Alec Guinness
Alec Guinness
Sir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...
, Joan Greenwood
Joan Greenwood
Joan Greenwood was an English actress. Born in Chelsea, she studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Her husky voice, coupled with her slow, precise elocution, was her trademark...
, and Cecil Parker
Cecil Parker
Cecil Parker was an English character and comedy actor with a distinctive husky voice, who usually played supporting roles in his 91 films made between 1928 and 1969....
, and was directed by Alexander Mackendrick
Alexander Mackendrick
Alexander Mackendrick was a Scottish American director and teacher. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and later moved to Scotland...
. It followed a common Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever since...
theme of the "common man" against the Establishment
The Establishment
The Establishment is a term used to refer to a visible dominant group or elite that holds power or authority in a nation. The term suggests a closed social group which selects its own members...
. In this instance the hero falls foul of both trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s and the wealthy mill owners who attempt to suppress his invention. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing (Screenplay) for Roger MacDougall
Roger MacDougall
Roger MacDougall was a Scottish playwright.MacDougall began writing the occasional screenplay in the late 30s, working both alone and in collaboration with others. Most of his plays were produced during the 50s...
, John Dighton
John Dighton
John Dighton was a successful British playwright and screenwriter.Dighton wrote for the stage until 1936, when he made the transition to films...
, and Alexander Mackendrick
Alexander Mackendrick
Alexander Mackendrick was a Scottish American director and teacher. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and later moved to Scotland...
.
Plot
Sidney Stratton, a brilliant young research chemistChemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
and former Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
scholarship recipient, has been dismissed from jobs at several textile mills in the north of England because of his demands for expensive facilities and his obsession to invent 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 suit is made—which is brilliant white because it cannot absorb dye, and slightly luminous because it includes radioactive elements.
Stratton is lauded as a genius until both management and the trade unions realise the consequence of his invention—once consumers have purchased enough cloth, demand will drop precipitously and put the textile industry out of business. The managers try to trick Stratton into signing away the rights to his invention but he refuses. Managers and workers each try to shut him away, but he escapes.
The climax sees Stratton running through the streets at night in his glowing white suit, pursued by both the managers and the employees. As the crowd advances, his suit begins to fall apart as the chemical structure of the fibre breaks down with time. The mob, realising the flaw in the process, rip pieces off his suit in triumph, until he is left standing in his underwear. Only Daphne Birnley, the mill-owner's daughter, and Bertha, a works labourer, have sympathy for his disappointment.
The next day, Stratton is dismissed from his job. Departing, he consults his chemistry notes. A realisation hits, and he exclaims, "I see!" With that he strides off, perhaps to try again elsewhere.
Cast
- Alec GuinnessAlec GuinnessSir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...
as Sidney Stratton - Joan GreenwoodJoan GreenwoodJoan Greenwood was an English actress. Born in Chelsea, she studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Her husky voice, coupled with her slow, precise elocution, was her trademark...
as Daphne Birnley - Cecil ParkerCecil ParkerCecil Parker was an English character and comedy actor with a distinctive husky voice, who usually played supporting roles in his 91 films made between 1928 and 1969....
as Alan Birnley - Michael GoughMichael GoughMichael Gough was an English character actor who appeared in over 150 films. He is perhaps best known to international audiences for his roles in the Hammer Horror films from 1958, and for his recurring role as Alfred Pennyworth in all four movies of the Burton/Schumacher Batman franchise,...
as Michael Corland - Ernest ThesigerErnest ThesigerErnest Frederic Graham Thesiger CBE was an English stage and film actor. He is best known for his performance as Dr...
as Sir John Kierlaw - Howard Marion-CrawfordHoward Marion-CrawfordHoward Marion-Crawford , the grandson of writer F. Marion Crawford, was an English character actor, best known for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in the 1954 television adaptation of Sherlock Holmes...
as Cranford - Henry MollisonHenry MollisonHenry Mollison was a British film actor. He was the brother of the actor Clifford Mollison.-Selected filmography:* Balaclava * Knowing Men * Third Time Lucky * The Face at the Window...
as Hoskins - Vida HopeVida Hope-Selected filmography:* Champagne Charlie * English Without Tears * Hue and Cry * Nicholas Nickleby * It Always Rains on Sunday * Woman Hater * For Them That Trespass...
as Bertha - Patric DoonanPatric DoonanPatric Doonan was a British stage and screen actor. He featured in films of the time as The Blue Lamp, Train of Events and The Cockleshell Heroes but never played the leads...
as Frank - Duncan LamontDuncan LamontDuncan William Ferguson Lamont was a British actor. Born in Lisbon, Portugal, but brought up in Scotland, he had a long and successful career in film and television, appearing in a variety of high-profile productions....
as Harry - Harold GoodwinHarold Goodwin (English actor)Harold Goodwin was an English actor born in Wombwell, Yorkshire, England.Goodwin trained at RADA and was a stage actor at Liverpool repertory theatre for 3 years...
as Wilkins - Colin GordonColin GordonColin Gordon was a British actor born in Ceylon .He was educated at Marlborough College and Christ Church, Oxford. He made his first West End appearance in 1934 as the hind legs of a horse in a production of “Toad of Toad Hall”. From 1936 to 1939 he was a director with the Fred Melville Repertory...
as Hill - Joan Harben as Miss Johnson
- Arthur HowardArthur HowardFor other people with this name, see Arthur Howard Arthur Howard was an English film and television actor.-Life and career:...
as Roberts - Roddy HughesRoddy HughesRoddy Hughes was a British film and television actor. He appeared in over 80 films between 1932 and 1961.-Selected filmography:* Say It With Flowers * Poison Pen * Saloon Bar...
as Green - Stuart Latham as Harrison
- Miles MallesonMiles MallesonWilliam Miles Malleson was an English actor and dramatist, particularly known for his appearances in British comedy films of the 1930s to 1960s. Towards the end of his career he also appeared in cameo roles in several Hammer horror films, with a fairly large role in The Brides of Dracula as the...
as The Tailor - Edie Martin as Mrs. Watson
- Mandy MillerMandy MillerMandy Miller is an English child actor who made a number of films in the 1950s and is probably best remembered for her recording of the song "Nellie the Elephant".-Early life:...
as Gladdie - Charlotte MitchellCharlotte MitchellCharlotte Mitchell is an English actress and poet.She was once the girlfriend of Peter Sellers, hence her occasional appearances on The Goon Show in the 1950s. Charlotte Mitchell was married to actor Philip Guard and is the mother of 3 children, actors Christopher Guard and Dominic Guard and...
as Mill Girl - Olaf Olsen as Knudsen
- Desmond Roberts as Mannering
- Ewan RobertsEwan Roberts-Selected filmography:* The Man in the White Suit * Angels One Five * Derby Day * The Titfield Thunderbolt * Night of the Demon * What a Whopper * The Day of the Triffids...
as Fotheringay - John RudlingJohn RudlingJohn Rudling was an English television actor who was perhaps best known for playing the butler Brabinger in the popular BBC sitcom To the Manor Born....
as Wilson - Charles Saynor as Pete
- Russell WatersRussell WatersRussell Waters was a Scottish film actor.Waters was educated at Hutchesons' Grammar School, Glasgow and the University of Glasgow. He began acting with the Old English Comedy and Shakespeare Company then appeared in repertory theatre, at the Old Vic and in the West End. On screen Waters generally...
as Davidson - Brian WorthBrian Worth (actor)- Selected filmography :- External links :...
as King - George BensonGeorge Benson (actor)George Christopher Benson was a Welsh and English actor of both theatre and screen, whose career spanned from the 1930s to the late 1970s...
as The Lodger - Frank Atkinson as The Baker
- Charles Cullum as 1st Company Director
- F.B.J. Sharp as 2nd Company Director
- Scott Harold as Express Reporter
- Jack Howarth as Receptionist at Corland Mill
- Jack McNaughton as Taxi Driver
- Judith FurseJudith Furse-Career:A member of the noted Furse family, her father was Lieutenant-General Sir William Furse. Her brother, Roger, became a celebrated stage designer and painter who occasionally worked in films....
as Nurse Gamage - Billy Russell as Nightwatchman
Cultural references
The distinctive soundtrack of the protagonist's laboratory-apparatus has a cameo appearanceCameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
( as the cider distiller sounds ) in the 2009 film Fantastic Mr. Fox
Fantastic Mr. Fox (film)
Fantastic Mr. Fox is a 2009 American stop-motion animated film based on the Roald Dahl children's novel of the same name. This story is about a fox who steals food each night from three mean and wealthy farmers. The farmers are fed up with Mr Fox's theft and try to kill him, so they dig their way...
.