Review for The Man In The White Suit (Restored)

Yet another in a string of excellent restorations of some of Ealing Studio’s finest work by Studio Canal. When Ealing first employed Alexander Mackendrick it was a rather risky business, turning him loose on the first location based film in their run of hit comedies, ‘Whiskey Galore!’ (1949). The results spoke for themselves and a year or so later he was invited to direct another film, this time based on a stage-play, ‘The Man in the White Suit’.


McKendrick had cut his directorial teeth on newsreels and propaganda pieces for the British Army during WWII and, to a degree, it shows in ‘TMIAWS’. A film full of wonderful contradictions, where unbridled innovation is curtailed, first by bureaucracy and then by politics, clearly a bug-bear for McKendrick who soon got behind the piece with some gusto, even adding his own pen to elements of the screenplay.


It’s all here in this wonderful film (in common with the later but equally wonderful Boulting brothers comedy ‘I’m Alright Jack’) – restrictive trade unionism and unbridled capitalism, both combining to get in the way of scientific advancement and productivity.


The thing about ‘TMIAWS’ is that it just a real joy to watch. In common with other of the Ealing classics, its wry narrative, superb performances, cosy pacing and excellent cinematography give it an almost unique ‘re-watchability’. In short, it doesn’t matter how many times you see it, it simply never tires. Which is one of the key reasons that no DVD collection should be without it. Which is why for me, this newly restored version represents a quadruple dip. (I bought the film on VHS, then got it free in a newspaper, replaced that with a DVD version that turned out to be no better than the perfectly good newspaper DVD and now this).


Sidney Stratton (Alec Guinness) is a junior lab-rat in a very traditional textiles industry. However, he’s also a brilliant scientist who achieved great things at University and will stop at nothing to get his research financed. For some time he has got away with fulfilling this private dream, running expensive experiments into synthetic fibres right under the noses of his inefficient bosses. In fact, it’s only when a visitor to the factory innocently asks what the experiment in the corner is all about that his plans are unearthed.


It transpires that he has spent a great deal of company money on the experiment and, after being dismissed, he takes up any role he can get in a rival factory – this time as a lowly warehouse operative. But before long he manages to get an unpaid position in the labs and before long his experiments are underway again, this time with a positive result; the creation of a material that repels dirt and never wears out.


Birnley, the boss, is persuaded by his daughter Daphne (Joan Greenwood), to let Sidney have the resource to try and replicate the experiment and before long the factory suffers a series of explosions akin to wartime Britain – but eventually he succeeds in creating the material. Before long the factory is creating it and cutting it with angle-grinders before fashioning some of it into a wonderful phosphorescent white suit for Stanley.


And that should have been it. The happy ending. Stanley is a success, the boss loves him and, even better, so does the bosses daughter. What could go wrong?
Well, the Unions don’t like it for a start. After all, if you never need to wash or repair your clothes you’ll never need to buy anymore, right? (How quaint, the idea that you would only buy something new when the old one has worn out. Real post-war logic which completely failed to account for, well, greed I suppose…). Not only that, the industry bosses realised that once sold they could sell no more. So they offer Stanley money to supress his findings.


Unable to accept that, he runs from the braying crowds, resplendent in his white suit to an entirely unsatisfying end. In fact, the impact of his invention only really dawns on Sidney when he bumps into his land-lady Mrs. Watson (Edie Martin) who argues that his silly invention will put pay to her extra income in ‘my bit of washing’ and asks ‘why can’t you scientists leave things alone?’.


The cinematography is stunning throughout and the film is show here in its original aspect ratio, just marginally wider than 4:3 which has the film has been transferred in previous editions. There are lots of shadowy nods, during the chase scene in particular, to German expressionist cinema. The new transfer is really superb (and I’m assessing this on standard DVD, not the Blu-Ray which I imagine looks quite magnificent) with negligible signs of wear and tear and a really pristine transfer with deep contrasts and a very slight but satisfyingly film-like grain. Audio is good if unremarkable.


Extra features are a little scant, comprising a stills gallery (comprising a mere 9 ‘behind-the-scenes’ photos), a trailer, a short restoration comparison (is it just me that finds these peculiarly dull?), and a 14 minute documentary (‘Revisiting The Man in the White Suit’) which is actually just three interviews strung together with cut-aways to the film – more ‘commentary’ than documentary. That said, each of the contributors have very sensible things to say about film and it’s well worth a watch.

All in all a complete Christmas-present no brainer if you don’t yet have it, and the restoration makes it well worth a double-dip if it’s a film that you’re likely to watch again and again. Studio Canal are absolutely on a roll at present with a relentless stream of classic releases restored to great condition, and this one does them proud.