Down With... Textiles

Imagine a high-stakes action thriller about a visionary scientist who develops a revolutionary technique that could change the world.


Imagine the tension and drama that would inevitably ensue when various vested interests try to suppress that discovery before it turns society upside down.


Imagine the paranoia; the conspiracy theories; the high-tension chase sequences! 

The explosions; the action scenes! Intrepid scientists running from the authorities, jumping off bridges, hanging out of buildings!


Actually, we don't have to imagine any of this, because Hollywood made this exact film, in 1996. More about that on Thursday.


Now, imagine the exact same film, but make it British.


I have said before that everything you need to know about British society can be learned from watching Passport to Pimlico and The Man in the White Suit. I screened Passport to Pimlico about a year and a half ago, and this Thursday I plan to screen The Man in the White Suit.


For those who haven't yet had the pleasure, The Man in the White Suit stars Alec Guinness as Sidney Stratton, an intrepid young scientist who develops a revolutionary new technique that could change the world. 


The technique, in this instance, is a new fabric that repels dirt and never wears out. (Although the term did not yet exist in 1951, Stratton has essentially invented Teflon.) Of course this news is disastrous for the textile industry, and a powerful cabal of industry magnates band together to suppress Sidney's discovery before they are all ruined.


Stratton must escape from their clutches so he can present his invention to the rest of the world, but he discovers that the Fat Cats of Industry are not the only ones who want his ideas suppressed.

The Man in the White Suit is very close to being the perfect Ealing Comedy. It is cynical without being nasty, and funny without being puerile. It has Alec Guinness in one of his iconic roles, and of course it has the two best sound effects in the history of Cinema:

This one:


...and this one:


We shall be showing The Man in the White Suit at 7.30pm on Thursday, the 29th of June at the Victoria Park Baptist Church.

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