This is a 1972 color film by Cullen Productions, sponsored by the Lead Industries Association, about the element Lead (Pb) and its many uses. It was likely produced as a p.r. effort at a time when the element was under assault in the media, and was about to be phased out of gasoline.

The film opens with a color-coded periodic table of the elements. Only the symbol, Pb for lead is visible. “The Lead Matrix”. Man is seen drilling crude ore in a mine 1:03. Rocks are transported by rail car, underground 1:32. Rail car is turned on its side and ore is dumped 1:45. Rocks are crushed 2:12. Suspended and separated 2:30. Concentrated and recovered 2:45. Centered and smelted 2:55. Molten lead 3:12. A man dips a large bucket into the molten lead 4:15. Refined, purified and poured into ingots; 2 tons of ore produce only one, 100-pound brick of lead 4:43. A map of North America 4:51. Over 1 million tons of lead are reclaimed each year 4:58. Symbol which the ancients used to represent lead 5:10. The modern day symbol for lead is Pb which stands for the word Plumbum 5:29. Lead lasts for centuries 5:45. Lead is soft and easy to process 6:00. Animation shows how lead is an effective barrier to the transmission of sound 6:25. Lead protects us in x-ray rooms 6:38. Industrial radiographic installations 6:55. Interlocking lead bricks 7:08. Gloves and aprons made with lead protect people 7:20. Lead lined plywood and cinderblocks, lead glass windows and lead personnel shields 7:36. Lead shipping containers come in all sizes 7:45. NS Savannah was the first nuclear-powered merchant ship, built in the late 1950s at a cost of $46.9 million. The ship has more than 530 tons of lead shielding 8:00. Lead sheeting protects cable 8:20. The lead flexes right with the cable 8:27. Lead is a prime ingredient in portable electric power 8:45. Electrodes made from two different forms of lead, when suspended in an acid solution outlasted and outperformed earlier galvanic batteries 8:57. Lead acid batteries come in all sizes 9:10. Battery-powered cars were the first ones produced 9:45. A Battronic van — an early electric vehicle — is shown 9:48. UPS operates 40 electric trucks 10:00. Battery-powered electric motors power lawnmowers 10:10. Lead is used in battery-operated hand tools and golf carts 10:25. It is used in outboard motors for boats 10:40. Electric carrier carts 10:50. Industrial lift trucks powered by battery 11:05. Batteries are used for emergency standby power for schools and hospitals 11:16. An animation shows lead pipes in use 11:52. Lead is used in roofing and gutter lining material 12:06. Lead resists corrosion 12:13. Lead is used for soundproofing walls in office buildings 12:41. Lead controls sound 13:10. An airplane flies overhead 13:34. Lead is used in Hydro- foils 13:51. Lead is used in soundproof movable walls 14:27. A single soundproof room 14:37. Minimizing vibrations in trains 15:15. Lead used between the columns and footings in concrete frame buildings 5:29. Lead used in the walls at the New York Philharmonic to protect from subway vibrations 15:38. Lead pads protect the Pan Am building from vibrations 15:50. Lead used in stained glass 16:00. Lead animation 16:45. Animation shows family driving 17:05. Tetraethyl lead or TEL is an odorless, colorless, liquid form of lead 17:25. Lead has valuable oxides 17:53. Lead monoxide is the most widely used 18:10. Red lead, lead chromate, lead silicate, etc. widely used today 18:21. Goblet of lead crystal by George Ravenscroft 18:34. Ceramic products made with lead oxide 18:47. Lead glass is ideal for technical purposes 19:03. Sears store 19:25. Lead products for pools, fountains and planters 20:05. Yellow highway paint, white lead and lead silicates for exterior painting 20:25. Lead is the ideal material in chemical manufacturing equipment 20:48. Lead Telluride generator powers a motor with no moving parts 21:24. The transit satellite launched by the USA 21:33. Lead is found in many car parts 21:40. Lead zirconate titanate crystals 22:04. New technology could create a lifetime strobe light activated by hand pressure alone 22:20. Cleaning systems are developed using lead with vibrations 22:51. Lead solder 23:00. Lead contributes to the production of modern containers 23:18. Leaded glass is the most crystal-clear in the world 23:58. Lead deadens sound 24:08. Lead is used in the projector lens used to show this picture 24:42. Lead gives light, power, silence, color and protection of life itself 25:03.

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com