THE MAN IN THE WHITE SUIT

PLOT SUMMARY

Mr. Stratton is fired from his job at Corland's textile mill when it is discovered that he spent 4,000 pounds on a mysterious apparatus that bubbles and thumps away in a back room. Although he has a degree in chemistry, he had been working as a maintenance man, finagling the money for supplies and equipment. He quickly gets another job at Birnley's mill, where he volunteers to work for two weeks without pay. As it happens, he was exposed at Corland's during a tour by wealthy Mr. Birnley, as Michael Corland hopes Birnley will invest. Corland also hopes to marry Birnley's daughter Daphne.

Daphne recognizes Stratton at the Birnley plant. He chases her down and pleads that she not tell her father. He explains that he's out to bond a longer-chain fiber molecule than any made before, and give it a surface static charge too! Thus it would repel dirt and be virtually indestructible. Recognizing the advantage this would give Birnley, she agrees.

Stratton, with Alan Birnley's approval, continues working. After thousands more pounds of expense and several explosions, he succeeds. The cloth comes rolling off the looms. Birnley orders him measured for a suit made of the stuff; the tailor provides templates for the pieces, and Stratton's people cut the fabric to match with acetylene torches. Soon he stands forth with a resplendent white suit that glows in the dark. Daphne says it makes him look like a white knight.

Inevitably, the story reaches the other mills — and the pressure comes on. That fabric would spell the end of clothing manufacturing throughout the world!

The movie becomes a farce. First the capitalists lock Stratton up when he refuses to sign over the rights. He escapes out the window, using a spool of his unbreakable thread. Then the millworkers lock him in his apartment. A litle girl helps him escape. Finally he is captured on the street — and it is discovered that the fabric is unstable. The mob gleefully rips his suit to tatters. Birnley, having escaped the crisis, puts a coda on the episode. Watching Stratton from his office window, he declares this is the end of Sidney Stratton's dream. But we see Stratton perusing his research notes. "Ah, I see!" he says. Perhaps Birnley's relief is premature.

Capsule review: This picture overdoes the chases and fights in places. But overall it is well-paced and well acted, with the performances by Sir Alec Guinness and Joan Greenberg standing out. The several baroque thread-making devices delight the eye and ear. The frenetic final chase transitions to a pathos-filled climax in an affecting way, and it in turn contrasts nicely with the subtly upbeat ending. This very enjoyable film smoothly delivers two important messages about technological innovation.