NEW PODCAST APPEARANCE: The Projection Booth - ‘The Man in the White Suit’ (1951)
Happy Boxing Day, folks!
Around your dog walks/lunch leftovers/shopping trips/insert post-Xmas tradition here, you might be up for a podcast today so why not join me as I go back on The Projection Booth for the third time this year, here discussing 1951’s The Man in the White Suit.
Directed by Alexander Mackendrick, this was an Ealing comedy at the height of their studio’s fame, as Alec Guinness plays a genius scientist who invents a polymer that can make fabric last forever. What sounds like a revolutionary invention becomes a terrifying prospect for the engines of capitalism and so follows a desperate race against time to stop his luminous white suit becoming known to the world.
It’s a fine little picture with a great deal to say about post-war British aspiration and fear, the class system and nascent capitalism, and I had great fun chatting with host Mike White and guest Paul Begley (whose podcast Wake Up Heavy I’ve long admired, so it was great to meet him). Plus this podcast has an interview with Robert Sellers, who wrote a terrific history of Ealing, and whose books have been a genuine influence on my own work.
Hopefully you’ll enjoy this conversation amidst the festive fayre! I’m launching my own film podcast next week called Beyond the Screen which is influenced by The Projection Booth in no small part, so this is the first of many film conversations spanning cinema to come in 2023.
https://pod.link/421863760/episode/5079a9c48843d707549ceb81fa3eb104
At this link you’ll find all of the platforms the episode is on - Apple, Spotify etc… I personally prefer Pocket Casts for my listening but whatever works for you.
Have a great day guys!