The Near Midnight Meanderings On A Movie With A Microwave Meal Part 9: The Man In The White Suit (1951)

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

The Man In The White Suit can be described in two sentences. Alec Guinness plays an inventor who invents a fabric that doesn't tear or get dirty. He has to deal with bosses and unions who know their livelihoods are threatened by it.

It's considered to be a satirical highpoint  of the Ealing Studios classic canon but does it really deserve it? It seems to me to be popular amongst right wing libertarian types. I read a review in the Daily Mail prior to it's broadcast last week lauding it. But it's not really deserved.

The movie casts Guinness' character as the noble individual fighting against powerful interests. But he is just as selfish as the forces against it. After all when given the consequences of any full manufacture of his product he just does not seem to care despite the number of people who would be made redundant because of it.

And who can truly blame the trade unions being against such a product?

I know also that this is an issue which would not register at the time but if you think about it environmentally the idea of indestructabble clothes is not a good one.

Production wise you cannot really argue with this film. The way that the forces against Guinness show ordinary people darken towards him is truly impressive. But let's make it clear here. He is destroying their lives.

This movie can be best described as The Fountainhead with jokes. But it shouldn't hide the fact that it's just as reactionary. And for people with a conscience it's best avoided.

Until the next time.