Our celebrated Alec Guinness Centennial continues tonight with a wonderful screening of the Ealing Studio’s comedy The Man in the White Suit. This creature was nimbly directed by the woefully underrated Alexander Mackendrick–who did Sweet Smell of Success, Whiskey Galore!, The Ladykillers (screening May 19 & 20 at the Trylon) and The Maggie (among others.) With this one, those are five masterpieces (yes, masterpieces) that would be the crown jewel in virtually any director’s quiver. David Lean didn’t make as many great movies, and that guy’s got enough Oscars to break a camel’s back.
If you fixate on telling great stories without a ton of flair, using your camera to celebrate the magnificent performances and not call attention to yourself, you tend to miss out on Oscar glory. Mackendrick is, in a sense, the Scottish Howard Hawks, his movies filled with great scenes, economical “small” pictures that simply work, and work to utter perfection. Don’t miss this one.
The Man in the White Suit screens Tuesday night at 7:00 & 9:00. Purchase tickets here.