In this Ealing comedy, Alec Guinness plays an eccentric even a naive chemist who develops surreptitiously a fabric that stays clean and does not wear out.
The result, textile firms are hostile to his invention because the new product would put them out of business, so they want to buy his invention and suppress it. The workers are hostile because it will put them out of jobs. If clothes last forever, then more people and looms are not needed to make it.
Through it all, Guinness carries on bemused as to why are so many people are upset, displaying little knowledge of the economic realities of life.
The film is a political and social satire, although it may had once been sharp but has blunted over time, it still has relevance even now. We have cars these days that are more powerful, has more gadgets and controls and more reliable than before with extra long warranties. This means we change cars less often to the chagrin of automobile makers but its good for the consumer.
However here the central concept is hard to take. The brilliant white suit looks unfashionable (and people tend to change clothes because fashion changes so often) and its hard to side with Guinness whose character appears to be cold, naive, odd, endearing but stupid as well. How he thinks the world would fall at its feet with the new invention is hard to fathom. Also there has been no proper product testing, very much like the white suit you can sense it will unravel.
The result, textile firms are hostile to his invention because the new product would put them out of business, so they want to buy his invention and suppress it. The workers are hostile because it will put them out of jobs. If clothes last forever, then more people and looms are not needed to make it.
Through it all, Guinness carries on bemused as to why are so many people are upset, displaying little knowledge of the economic realities of life.
The film is a political and social satire, although it may had once been sharp but has blunted over time, it still has relevance even now. We have cars these days that are more powerful, has more gadgets and controls and more reliable than before with extra long warranties. This means we change cars less often to the chagrin of automobile makers but its good for the consumer.
However here the central concept is hard to take. The brilliant white suit looks unfashionable (and people tend to change clothes because fashion changes so often) and its hard to side with Guinness whose character appears to be cold, naive, odd, endearing but stupid as well. How he thinks the world would fall at its feet with the new invention is hard to fathom. Also there has been no proper product testing, very much like the white suit you can sense it will unravel.