The Man in the White Suit (1951)

Director:

Alexander Mackendrick

Writers:

Roger MacDougall (play)
Roger MacDougall (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

April 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Sci-Fi | Drama

Tagline:

Should they let him play...or should they put him away?

Plot:

An altruistic chemist invents a fabric that resists wear and stain as boon to humanity but both capital and labor realize it must be suppressed for economic reasons.

Plot Keywords:

Inventor | Invention | Chemist | Clothing Industry | Factory

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Alec Guinness	...	Sidney Stratton
Joan Greenwood	...	Daphne Birnley
Cecil Parker	...	Alan Birnley
Michael Gough	...	Michael Corland
Ernest Thesiger	...	Sir John Kierlaw
Howard Marion-Crawford	...	Cranford (as Howard Marion Crawford)
Henry Mollison	...	Hoskins
Vida Hope	...	Bertha
Patric Doonan	...	Frank
Duncan Lamont	...	Harry
Harold Goodwin	...	Wilkins
Colin Gordon	...	Hill
Joan Harben	...	Miss Johnson
Arthur Howard	...	Roberts
Roddy Hughes	...	Green
Stuart Latham	...	Harrison
Miles Malleson	...	The Tailor
Edie Martin	...	Mrs. Watson
Mandy Miller	...	Gladdie
Charlotte Mitchell	...	Mill Girl
Olaf Olsen	...	Knudsen
Desmond Roberts	...	Mannering
Ewan Roberts	...	Fotheringay
John Rudling	...	Wilson
Charles Saynor	...	Pete
Russell Waters	...	Davidson
Brian Worth	...	King
George Benson	...	The Lodger
Frank Atkinson	...	The Baker
Charles Cullum	...	1st Company Director
F.B.J. Sharp	...	2nd Company Director (as F. B. J. Sharp)
Scott Harold	...	Express Reporter
Jack Howarth	...	Receptionist At Corland Mill
Jack McNaughton	...	Taxi Driver
Judith Furse	...	Nurse Gamage
Billy Russell	...	Nightwatchman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Boyd	...	Office Boy (uncredited)
Alan Haines	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Arthur Mullard	...	(uncredited)
Carol Wolveridge	...	Schoolgirl in front of class (uncredited)

Directed by
Alexander Mackendrick

Writing credits
Roger MacDougall		(play)
Roger MacDougall		(screenplay) &
John Dighton		(screenplay) &
Alexander Mackendrick		(screenplay)

Produced by
Michael Balcon	....	producer
Sidney Cole	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Benjamin Frankel

Cinematography by
Douglas Slocombe		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Bernard Gribble

Casting by
Margaret Harper Nelson		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Jim Morahan

Costume Design by
Anthony Mendleson

Makeup Department
Barbara Barnard	....	hair styles
Harry Frampton	....	make-up
Ernest Taylor	....	make-up
Daphne Martin	....	assistant hairdresser (uncredited)

Production Management
Hal Mason	....	production supervisor
L.C. Rudkin	....	unit production manager (as L. C. Rudkin)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
David Peers	....	assistant director
John Assig	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
Terry Bishop	....	second unit director (uncredited)
Jim O'Connolly	....	third assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Norman Dorme	....	draughtsman (uncredited)
Andrew Low	....	set dresser (uncredited)
Len Wills	....	assistant art director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Arthur Bradburn	....	recordist
Stephen Dalby	....	sound supervisor
Mary Habberfield	....	sound editor (uncredited)
Norman King	....	chief sound engineer (uncredited)
Cyril Swern	....	boom operator (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Sydney Pearson	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Geoffrey Dickinson	....	special processes

Camera and Electrical Department
Lionel Banes	....	additional photography
Jeff Seaholme	....	camera operator
Jack Dooley	....	stills (uncredited)
Ted Lockhart	....	grip (uncredited)
Bob Penn	....	floor stills (uncredited)
Michael Shepherd	....	clapper loader (uncredited)
Ken Westbury	....	camera assistant (uncredited)
Hugh Wilson	....	focus puller (uncredited)

Casting Department
Muriel Cole	....	crowd casting (uncredited)
Thelma Graves	....	assistant casting (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ron Beck	....	wardrobe assistant: men (uncredited)
Edith Crutchley	....	wardrobe assistant: ladies (uncredited)
Ernie Farrer	....	wardrobe master (uncredited)
Lily Payne	....	wardrobe mistress (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Lionel Selwyn	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Ernest Irving	....	conductor: The Philharmonia Orchestra

Other crew
Felicia Manheim	....	continuity
Geoffrey Myers	....	scientific adviser
Christopher Barry	....	assistant to producer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• J. Arthur Rank Organisation (presents) (as The J. Arthur Rank Organisation)
• Ealing Studios (as An Ealing Studios Production)

Distributors

• General Film Distributors (GFD) (1951) (UK) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1952) (USA) (theatrical)
• Parvisfilmi (1959) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Thorn EMI Video (198?) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1989) (UK) (VHS)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Studio Canal (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Optimum Home Entertainment (2006) (UK) (DVD)
• Rialto Pictures (2012) (USA) (theatrical) (reissue)
• Home Box Office Home Video (HBO) (video)
• J. Arthur Rank Organisation (1952) (USA) (all media)
• M. Nyström (1991) (Finland) (video)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV) (1970) (Finland) (TV)
• New Century Telecommunications (????) (USA) (TV)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2008) (Finland) (DVD)
• StudioCanal (2013) (Germany) (DVD)
• YLE Teema (2008) (Finland) (TV)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1965) (Finland) (TV)

Other Companies

• Crest National  DVD coding (uncredited)
• Philharmonia Orchestra, The  music played by (as The Philharmonia Orchestra)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-8 (1959) | Sweden:15 | UK:U | Iceland:L | Australia:PG | Finland:S (video rating) (1991) | USA:Approved (certificate #55096) | UK:U (video rating) (1989) (2006) | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | West Germany:12 | Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Brimsdown Station, Enfield, Middlesex, England, UK

Company:

J. Arthur Rank Organisation

Trivia:

The sounds of Stratton's experiment (described on the record label as "guggle glub guggle") were set to music by Jack Parnell and released on Parlophone R 3435 as "The White Suit Samba" with words by T.E.B. Clarke.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Mr. Harrison is called by a woman because he is wanted by Mr. Corland, he is blowing into a glass vial on a side counter which was not there in the previous shot.

Quotes:

Daphne Birnley, Alan Birnley's daughter:Thank you Sidney. If you would've said "yes" I could've strangled you!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Midsomer Murders: A Tale of Two Hamlets (#6.4)" (2003)

Lasts forever and never wears out

For me this is Ealing Studio's most perfect film - as fresh and relevant half a century later as it was the day it was released.

As a satire on economic notions of 'growth' and the commercial need for in-built obsolescence, it could scarcely be more up-to-the-minute. And of what other film can it be said that the hero literally wears the plot?

Oddly, there are parallels with Jurassic Park, in which messing with the environment will literally turn round and bite you. But Spielberg shied away from the book's brilliant central conceit to tack on some nonsense about 'children'. Hmmm.

In The Man In The White Suit, Alec Guiness plays an idealistic young scientist who comes up with a cloth that never gets dirty and never wears out. Suddenly workers and capital at the northern English mill where he is working are united as never before in protection of their livelihoods.

Of course, being Ealing, it's a comedy, but it needn't have been. The complex interplay of vested (should that be suited?) interests plays out beautifully, as one by one all parties realize that 'progress' is a threat, and that disposability and waste are what keep the looms turning.

But, yes, this is a comedy - albeit a pointed one - and amid the political ironies are delicious performances, and some good old-fashioned knock-about laughs.

Nonetheless, it's the biting satire that endures - dazzling and white.