An important landmark of postwar British cinema, this delightfully zany comedy stars Alec Guinness as a meek lab researcher whose accidental invention of an indestructible fabric earns the ire of the entire textile industry. The remarkable cloth is a wonderful emblem of Mackendrick’s understatedly subversive films and his ability to subtly transform mild-mannered comic formulas into pointed critiques; The Man in the White Suit pokes delicious fun at the absurd notion of planned obsolescence so central to the capitalist system while also skewering postwar England's deep-seated fear of change.

Vividly set amidst the dilapidation of postwar London, Mackendrick's first color film centers on five criminals masquerading as a string ensemble and intent on using their aged landlady as an unwitting accomplice to an elaborate robbery. The innocent and oblivious Mrs. Wilberforce (Katie Johnson) unwittingly confounds the criminals at every turn, frustrating even their increasingly desperate attempts to do her in. The last of the great Ealing comedies, The Ladykillers is a wonderful example of Mackendrick’s talent at satisfying the studio's standard of polite charm and humor while simultaneously mining a dark strain of biting satire.