The DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware, makers of better things for better living through chemistry, presents the cavalcade of America. Tonight's star, Montgomery Clift. Tonight's DuPont cavalcade, The Metal of the Moon, stars Montgomery Clift as Charles Martin Hall. The story begins on a September day of 1884 in the little town of Oberlin, Ohio. It was warm, but not hot. Down from Lake Erie, some 20 miles to the north, a wisp of wind tickled the elm trees along College Street, patted the flag in the campus of Oberlin College, and finally meandered off rather aimlessly to the south. It was a good day for a nap. Then... Har! Har! Har! Come on in. Where is it, Chief? Where's the hire? It's a hog. It's a hog place on College Street. Young Charlie Hall must be experimenting again. Oh, Charlie, what a mess. Julia, will you help me clean it up? How did the fire start, Charlie? Yeah, what happened? Well, uh, I don't know. I was working here on an experiment and I just wanted to try something else, something just a little different from what it said in the book. And then, boom! When father gets home and sees what's happened, that's what'll happen. What'll happen, sis? Just what you said. Boom! Charles? Yes, Father. Charles, if your sisters can refrain from their giggling, I'd like to talk to you about what happened here this afternoon. Hey, Julia, Lou, cut it out, will you? Now may I ask you, Charles, how the fire started? Uh, well, I don't know exactly, sir. All I know is I was up there doing an experiment and, uh, well, all of a sudden. All of a sudden what? Fire. That's right. What's right? Just what you said. It wasn't Charlie's fault, Father. It was just an experiment. Julia, you and your sisters will kindly let me handle this matter in my own fashion? Yes, Father. Now, Charles, your mother and I have been most indulgent in the matter of your chemical experiments. That's true, is it not? It certainly is. We have maintained an attitude of quiet resignation in the face of alternating periods of abominable smells and malodorous gases. When acid ripped down from the attic, went through the floorboards, and ultimately dug a hole in Mother's favorite counterpane, we said not a word. No, not a word. You would say then that we as parents have been sympathetic? Very sympathetic. No question about it. Good. But, Charles, one has to draw a line somewhere. Yeah, one does have to. And setting the house on fire is just a trifle too much. Yeah, I would think so. Well, I'm glad you understand me, Charles. Yes. Good. Then you will understand exactly why I say to you at this time that you are never, never, never to conduct another chemical experiment under this roof. Dad. There is no appeal from this decision. Good day, Charles. Good day, children. Good morning, Professor Jewett. Well, Mr. Hall, come in. I hope you don't mind my bothering you in the laboratory. Nonsense. Say, what's this I hear about a fire out at your place? One of my experiments. Oh. Well, that will happen. You made a terrible mess. I'm sorry to hear that. I've been banished. Huh? Exiled. Oh, my, my. I can't work nights anymore. I got kicked out of the attic. Hmm. Well, hard to work in chemistry without a laboratory. It sure is. What am I going to do? How would you like to work here with me in your free time? Could I, sir? Well, why not? All we need is the permission of the head of the chemistry department of the college. But, Professor... I know. I'm the head of the chemistry department of the college. Very well. Permission granted. Charlie. Yes, Professor? It's stifling in here. Would you mind opening a window? Not at all. Oh, watch the papers on my desk. Hand me that paperweight. Yes, sir. Thanks. They'll do it. What are you looking at, Charlie? The paperweight. So light. Before I picked it up, I thought it was lead. But it doesn't seem to weigh anything. Oh, that's not lead, my boy. What is it? That's one of the crown jewels of chemistry. Aluminum, Charlie. Pure aluminum. One of chemistry's will of the wisps. I never saw pure aluminum before. Not many people have. It's almost a laboratory curiosity. And what a pity. A strong, wonderful metal, lighter than iron, copper, zinc or lead, resistant to corrosion by water or air. But a baffler. A real puzzler, Charlie. Why? What's puzzling about it? Well, it's modesty, if you can call it that. This thing called aluminum is one of the most common elements in the Earth's crust. Every play bank is full of it. But you can't get it out just by issuing a polite invitation. It never occurs in its natural state as pure aluminum. It's always bound up tightly with other elements. And no one has yet has ever found a method of extracting it economically, getting it out in a pure state at a price low enough to make it economically feasible. They can't find anything that'll reduce those compounds. No, no, indeed. Some of the greatest chemists of the world have tried and given up. Charlie, here's something to think about. The man who finds a way to extract aluminum from its compounds on a commercial scale would be a benefactor to the world. And incidentally, lay up for himself a great fortune. I mean that, Charlie. I'm serious. Sure is something to think about. Sure is. Hi, Julia. Hello, Charlie. Nobody home? Just me and this man. I'll give you a hand. No homework? No, it's finished. I don't mind the dishes. Those big iron pots. Can't even lift them. I'll wash you dry. Why, be crazy to say no. I yield to the gentleman from South Carolina. Thank you, ma'am. Hey, does this pot have to be washed? Unless you want to take it out in the backyard and bury it. I see you're not going to do that. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. That's an idea. The boy's thing must weigh 15 pounds if it weighs an ounce. More, I bet. Make way, woman. Why don't they make lighter pots? It would be a boon to humanity. Women around the world would be the path to the door of the man who would make a lighter pot. Well, that should be an inducement. By the way, have you heard from Ellen lately? Who? Ellen. Ellen Franks. Remember the girl from Cleveland. You couldn't stop talking about last summer. Oh, no. Have you written it? No. Now look here, Charlie. What in the world's the matter with you? Everything's fine. Why? It is not. You're not yourself. Don't tell me. I know you like a book. Something's come over you lately. You're so quiet and always by yourself. You don't even play the piano anymore. I know. What is it? I don't know. I don't know what's the matter with me. I'm 21, a junior in college. I live in a plain house in an ordinary town. I should be just a plain, ordinary fellow. I should be thinking about girls, about sports, that kind of thing. I don't. What's the matter with me? I only got one thing on my mind. Chemistry. Why? I don't know why. I wake up in the morning thinking chemistry all day. No matter what else I'm doing, I'm always thinking about chemistry problems. At night when I go to bed. Do I read a novel? No. Chemistry books. I like chemistry too. Sis, it's not a question of liking it. I'm a fanatic. I just haven't got room in my mind for anything else. You just think that. No. Today, Professor Jewett spoke about aluminum. He said that chemists have been trying for years to find some way of getting it out of its compound by some other method than reduction, which is too expensive and so no good commercially. Well. Well, so what do I do? I go down to the library and I read all the books I can find on the subject. Well? It sounds crazy. But I intend to go after that metal. What's crazy about that? Well, you know, I'm a student. The best chemists in the world have spent, I don't know, how many years trying to find the answer. They can't. But I'm going to try. Good. It'll take time, of course. You'll have to finish college and take post-grad work and then get into a laboratory. I don't mean that. I mean I can do it now. Now? I believe so. I believe I could. Oh. You can rub a hole in that pot if you keep scrubbing at it like that. Well, it's clean anyway. And you can get aluminum too, Charlie. I know you can. Yeah, I think I can. But I got to have a place to work. Once I've graduated, I can't go on using the school lab. Well, all right, work here. Oh, sure, after what father said. He said you couldn't work with chemicals under this roof. He wasn't fooling me either. What's the matter with the woodshed and back? The woodshed? It's not under this roof. Julia, you're a genius. Oh, I'll leave that title to you. A genius. Oh, come on, help me hang this pot over the stove. You think I can do it, don't you? I'm sure you can. Now help me lift this pot. It's so heavy that I can't... Oh, right on my foot. Hey, did you hurt yourself? My foot? I'm sorry. Well, it wasn't your fault. But I tell you this, Charlie Hall, you hurry up and find out how to get aluminum. And the first thing you do with it is to make some lighter pots. Mother? Yes? My lemon drops aren't in the pantry. Oh, they must be. They're not. Now let me see. Well, that's funny, my cookie jar's gone too. They're in the glass jar, as always. The cookies? The lemon drops. I can't understand it. For the past few days, all of my glass jars have been disappearing. Indeed? Oh, well, it's nothing very important. I insist it is important. What is the world coming to when a man's lemon drops aren't safe, even in his own home? Will someone please tell me what's going on in this woodshed and why you need all these glass jars? Is that all the two of you can find? Charlie Hall, there isn't a glass jar left in the house. I'll take an oath on that. I want to know what's going on here. We're making a battery, Louie. A battery? For current, electric current. Oh. Julia, will you mash up some aluminum oxide? Or what do you want electricity for? Louie, can you keep a secret? Uh-huh, sure. You can trust me. Yeah, well, if you can keep a secret. Secret? Oh, Father. And may I ask the nature of this mysterious secret? Oh, gee. My cookie jar. My lemon drops. My goodness. Charles, Julia, Lou, I think an explanation is in order. I'm innocent. Father, you said that I mustn't experiment in the house. So here I am in the woodshed. I am eagerly awaiting the explanation. Well, the explanation is pretty simple, Father. It's just one word. One word? Aluminum. It's a wonderful idea. It really is, Father. Look at this little paperweight Charlie got from Professor Jewett. It's pure aluminum. Feel how light it is. One third the weight of steel, yet it's strong enough to make a bridge or girders for a building. All right, but I still don't understand not a bit. If there's a need for aluminum, Charles, why fool around with all these glass jars? Why not just mine the stuff like iron or copper? Can't be done. Aluminum never occurs in a natural state. It's always mixed up in with other compounds. And you think you can find a way to get it out of these compounds out here in the woodshed? I do think so. I think I've got at least part of the answer. You see, Father, everyone else has tried to get aluminum by chemical reduction. I want to try a new method, electricity. See, my theory is that a strong electric current can break down the compounds, separate aluminum from all the other elements, and get it out in a pure metallic state. Hmm. Charles, have you talked this over with anyone qualified to judge the merits of your theory? Yes, I have with Professor Jewett. And what does he say? He says I may be on the right track. Mm-hmm. I think I made myself clear on the matter of chemical experiments at home, Charles. You said... you said not under the house roof. So I did. This woodshed isn't under the house roof, Father. Hey, technicality. Yes. Well, uh... I guess you want me to quit, Father. Quit? Ha-ha-ha. No, Charles, no, I don't want you to quit. I want you to keep right on going. But, Charles... Yes, sir? I will ask you one favor. Of course, sir. Please be good enough to turn back to me the lemon drops that were in my glass jar. You are listening to the DuPont Cavalcade of America, starring Montgomery Clift in The Metal of the Moon. Sponsored by the DuPont Company, makers of better things for better living through chemistry. The DuPont Cavalcade continues, starring Montgomery Clift as Charles Martin Hall in The Metal of the Moon. It's a year later, 1885. Charlie Hall has graduated now, and in a battered old woodshed behind his house in Oberlin, Ohio, he is still searching for the secret of aluminum. Hello. Hi. Any luck? No. I can't seem to find the right thing to melt down aluminum oxide. What's next? Don't know. I know. All right, tell me. The next thing is a hayride. A what? A hayride. Oh, come on, Charlie. We're all going. It'll be lots of fun. Oh, no. Charlie, listen. You've been cooped up in this woodshed for months now. It's no good. It's bad for you. I got to get to the bottom of this. Look, it's smothering you. You can't think clearly about it anymore because you've been so wrapped up in everything. You need some time off. Your brain needs a vacation. I'm not so sure I still have a brain. And besides, since when is a hayride a vacation? What is it then? A hayride? Well, I'd say that a hayride is a type of ambulating crucible in which various explosive chemicals react against one another. React or attract? You've got a point. All right, come on. Let's find out. Why so quiet, Charlie? Nothing to say. I was surprised when Julia brought you along. Were you? Uh-huh. Were you glad? Uh-huh. I'm glad Julia brought me along, too. Charlie, what are you thinking about? Nothing, nothing special. You know what I'm thinking about? Tell me. The moon. The moon? Uh-huh. Same old funny-looking moon. No, no it isn't. Tonight it looks different somehow. Bigger than ever. Bigger? Wider than ever. Just a big round rock of ice. A rock of ice. Uh-huh. Rock ice. That's what it looks like. Rock ice. Sylvia, Sylvia, there, I'll see you later. Oh, Charlie, what's the matter? What is it, Charlie? Sylvia, what happened? What happened to Charlie? Well, I don't know. I didn't say anything. I didn't do anything. And Charlie ran away. Oh, you should be ashamed of yourself, Charlie Hall. Running back here to the woodshed the way you did. I'm sorry, Julia. Look, I'll make it up to her. I just had to get back here. Oh. Julia, don't just stand there glaring at me. Come on, get to work. I will not. Until you tell me why you ran away. Rock ice. Sylvia said that the moon looked like a rock of ice. And suddenly I thought, rock ice. That's what'll do the trick. Rock ice. Yes, have you ever heard of it? No. Look, rock ice is cryolite. And cryolite is just what I need as a solvent for aluminum oxide. Unless I miss my guess, aluminum oxide will dissolve in it. And we'll get what we want, a melted mass containing no water. Now, will you please get to work on that aluminum oxide? And I'll heat up the clay crucible, all right? Oh, gee, I'm tired. It's late. It's almost an hour now since we poured the mixture out of the crucible into the cooling pan. Let's take a look. All right. Will you hand me the hammer? Uh-huh. What should happen, Charlie? If it works out like I figured, somewhere in this cake of hardened cryolite, we should find pure metallic aluminum. Well, well, let's see. It breaks up easily. Uh, do you see anything? Not yet. What will it look like? Well, there should be tiny lumps of aluminum, like little beads. Well? Nothing. Not even a little? Nothing. No use. Nothing. Not a, not a trace of aluminum. Not even one little bead? Not one. Not one. Well? Charlie, what went wrong? Something. But everything seemed exactly right. The cryolite melted down. The aluminum oxide dissolved. Maybe it didn't have enough current. No, it's not that. It's not that. Well, then what? I don't know. Somewhere, somewhere along the line. Well, let's see. Let's go back step by step. All right. First, it crushed down the aluminum oxide. That was all right. Then it melted down the cryolite. That was all right. Put the aluminum oxide into the crucible. The crucible. Oh, there was nothing wrong with the crucible, Charlie. It stood up fine. No, sure it stood up fine, but something in the clay reacted with the aluminum. It spoiled the experiment. We got to find another type of crucible. What kind? Carbon. Why carbon? Why? Because carbon is chemically stable. And the crucible made of carbon won't have anything in it that will prevent the electric current from separating the aluminum from its compound. Come on. Let's get to work. Oh, what's he got to crow about? More than we have so far. Charlie, can we try now? I don't know. What do you think? I can't even think. I'm afraid to think. Hey, you remember the poem we used to say when we were kids when we wanted something real bad? Yes. Well, say it. All right. I hope it's white. I hope it's blue. I hope that all my dreams come true. I hope it's white. I hope it's blue. I hope that all my dreams come true. Julia. Anything? Anything at all? Will you look? Beads. A lot of beads. Aluminum. Pure aluminum. Like jewels. The crown jewels. Look at them. The crown jewels of chemistry. Pure aluminum. In Oberlin, Ohio, a young man of 22 unlocked a door that had defied the men of science for centuries and brought aluminum into our everyday life. Every plane that flies, every streamliner that sings along the rails, each and every aluminum kitchen utensil, every ounce and every use of this magic metal is a tribute to a boy who wouldn't give up, who set his sights early and stayed true to his course, Charles Martin Hall. Our thanks to Montgomery Clift and the Cabell Cave players for tonight's story, The Metal of the Moon. Next week, the star of the DuPont cavalcade will be Raymond Massey. Our story, Keep Six, is an unusual and moving portrait of Abraham Lincoln. Be sure to listen. Tonight's DuPont play, The Metal of the Moon, was written by Irv Choney. Appearing with Montgomery Clift were Amzie Strickland as Julia, Danny Arko as father, Bill Adams as Professor Jewett, Jean Gillespie was Sylvia, Patricia Hosley was Lou, Irene Hubbard was the mother, and Roy Fant was the chief. Music composed by Arden Cornwell and conducted by Donald Voorhees. The program is directed by John Zoller. Ladies and gentlemen, because of the March of Dimes, medical science is able to continue its relentless fight against polio. This work needs your help. Join the 1951 March of Dimes today. Don't forget next week, Raymond Massey. The DuPont cavalcade of America comes to you from the Velasco Theater in New York and is sponsored by the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware, makers of better things for better living through chemistry.
