• JimmyDean

    ★★★★ Watched by JimmyDean 05 May, 2013

    Amusing, thoughtful and incredibly inventive. Alec Guinness is once again superb in this Ealing comedy that feels a lot more like a drama, at times. Not as funny as Kind Hearts and Coronets, and ultimately now quite as good, but the film holds a lot of dramatic weight in the ethics of the white suit, as well as a very emotive finale to the film which provoked a reaction from me more than most dramas do. There's a number of…

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  • Clay Hazelwood

    ★★★★½ Watched by Clay Hazelwood 29 Apr, 2013

    A very clever script made even better by the superb Alec Guinness, a fantastic supporting cast and the pitch perfect direction of Alexander Mackendrick.

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  • Veronica

    ★★★★ Added by Veronica

    Really enjoyed this one. It’s.. lightly dark, if that makes sense. Handles serious themes with a sense of whimsy. It reminds me of The Hudsucker Proxy in this way. Really smart, and really fun take on the schemes and shifty dealings of modern industry when it comes to putting profit over the good of humanity. Hilariously bitter.

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  • moviemiser

    ★★★★½ Watched by moviemiser 16 Mar, 2013

    Truly wonderful cocktail of Sci-Fi, Screwball comedy, and prescient social drama.

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  • Pedro Younis Gonçalves

    ★★½ Watched by Pedro Younis Gonçalves 22 Feb, 2013

    It's hard for me to give a high rating to an old film, I have to really like it. This was a good one. Original story, dynamic and talented cast. But it didn't quite click for me. I felt like there was a missing link between the different elements of the making of the film. But it's a Hollywood classic worth watching if you enjoy old films with an interesting narrative. I actually enjoyed the film's ending, and though it's not the most entertaining movie ever, it is also not the most boring one.

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  • lowks

    ★★★★★ Watched by lowks 17 Feb, 2013

    After LadyKillers, I became very interested to check out Ealing studio gems and I am glad I found this one. This is great! A masterful mix of comedy, satire and political commentary this is an evergreen classic!

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  • Pat

    ★★★★★ Watched by Pat 30 Jan, 2013

    One of the most visually inventive comedies I've seen, but what elevates it to greatness is Guinness's comic prowess and a Coen-like farm team of distinctive supporting players. Extra-credit for an adept handle on what makes capitalism inherently ridiculous while admitting that it's not as simple as it might seem to change it.

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  • Kevin

    ★★★★ Watched by Kevin 10 Jan, 2013

    Film 5 in my short series of 1950's British classics.

    The great Alec Guinness stars as Sidney Stratton, a chemist who invents a cloth that doesn't wear and tear and repels dirt.

    Fearing the collapse of the clothing industry and mass unemployment both bosses and unions attempt to suppress Sidney's invention.

    The supporting cast includes 2 of my favourites from the period, Joan Greenwood and Cecil Parker.

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  • anne_f_

    ★★★½ Watched by anne_f_ 26 Apr, 2008

    "Alec Guinness plays a scientist who invents a yarn that will make clothes that won't get dirty or wear out. The trade unions and mill owners join together to protect their interests. The idea of an indestructible yarn must have seemed like science fiction when the film was made - we can now get stockings that won't ladder from M&S!"

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  • Chris Banks

    ★★★★ Watched by Chris Banks 18 Nov, 2012

    In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ealing virtuoso Alexander Mackendrick, The Man in the White Suit finds itself on the receiving end of a restoration and re-release.

    Mackendrick’s amusingly sardonic tale, based on his cousin Roger McDougall’s play, gives Alec Guinness a chance to shine as the stubborn genius, Sidney Stratton. Following a dismissal from his previous bout of employment, Sidney finds himself working in the research laboratory of a textile factory in a non-descript corner…

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  • Peter Labuza

    ★★★★½ Watched by Peter Labuza 16 Nov, 2012

    A theory of scientific revolutions: people fear them. A comedy that fools on Marxist traditions.

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  • Aaron King

    ★★★ Watched by Aaron King 01 Oct, 2012

    I thought this film would be a fun thriller and it turned out to be some sort of weird comedy about a guy who makes cottn that never needs to be cleaned or new ones bought because of the substance in it and then the clothing industry didn't want him to make it because it would hurt them so badly so they wanted to stop him from making it. Sounds like a thriller right, but like I said, it isn't at all. Alec gives a fine performance in it as does the rest of the cast, but the film is rather silly.

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