A hoot from start to finish: The Man in the White Suit reviewed

The Man in the White Suit, famously, is a yarn about yarn. A brilliant young boffin stumbles across an everlasting polymer thread but when he tries to profit from his discovery he faces unexpected ruin. There are only three beats in the story — breakthrough, triumph, disaster — so it needs to be elaborated with some skill. Writer/director Sean Foley does a superb job of making the gaps unnoticeable. He aims for the farcical texture of a pantomime and he opens the story in a cheery northern pub where working-class men and women sit around as equals, sharing pints of ale. Rather a fanciful view of 1950s England but never mind.

We move to the factory where Sidney, a clumsy Cambridge graduate, muddles his way through various madcap experiments. Bangs, flashes, and eruptions of fire and smoke fill the air. Finally, a miracle. He invents a new fabric that repels dirt and lasts for ever.