British Pathe

Various locations. 1952?

A black cab drives through a London street. A commissionaire stands in the hallway of St. James's House. A lift door closes and starts to rise. Sitting at his desk is Mr G.E. Beharell, Deputy Chairman and Managing Director of Dunlop. He introduces the film as an example...

Various locations. 1952?

A black cab drives through a London street. A commissionaire stands in the hallway of St. James's House. A lift door closes and starts to rise. Sitting at his desk is Mr G.E. Beharell, Deputy Chairman and Managing Director of Dunlop. He introduces the film as an example of how a large enterprise transforms an idea into a service to the community, and helps areas of underemployment. The product is "Dunlopillo".

Title "The Price of Enterprise".
Montage of Dunlop tyres, bicycles, motor bikes, racing cars, speed records, aeroplane take off, wheels on vehicles. A limo enters the gates of Fort Dunlop. Production lines producing Dunlop products, tyres, tennis rackets, golf balls, rubber boots, suits, semtex tyres, plastic sheeting, conveyor belts, jet plane brakes. CU lorry tyre driving away. Money being put into wage packets. Workers arriving at the factory. A large calculating machine.
A sign "Latex Research Center". Top shot three men working in a lab. They pour a flask of liquid rubber into a flask, weigh it, and write notes. CU typing " To enable a team of ten to proceed with the work, the board have agreed to allocate £16000 to Latex Research." 1925.
CU looking through a microscope. Latex is tested wrapped round a cylinder, and poured out onto a dish. The problem is to preserve it. A new proposal is typed in 1926 "To allow six months more to achieve success. The board have agreed to make a final allocation of £50000 to Latex Research."

Scientists pouring, stirring, dipping and spreading latex. Making balloon's, gloves and water proof cloth. Jar marked "Gelling agent" is picked up and mixed with other liquids. They kept producing a foamy mass of bubbles, and not what they wanted. Sheet rubber was still cheaper. They then tried adding bubbles, shots of liquids being mixed together using a bakers whisk. The foam is poured into a large metal bowl, and a gelling agent added. A mould of the set mixture is removed from a sort of oven in a large tray. Five technicians in white coats gather round the set mixture and remove it from a bowl. They cut it open. It had set well, and was different from any other product, but what could they use it for? A cushion, a seat perhaps?

A legal document is opened, it is the 1928 patent for Latex Foam. Shots of the foam with cavities and arches and ribs in it. Two suited men in an office discuss uses for the foam,
they decide to try it out in the motor industry for upholstery. One of the managers is seen at his home finishing a meal with his wife. He shows some foam to her. She smells it and pulls a face. They decide to get rid of the smell. The manager takes the sample to a big store (Selfridges ?) and shows it to the salesman in the mattress dept.

Back in the lab the scientist are whisking up another mixture and adding another liquid. The problem was that the product cost was rising. Top shot of the motor show. A women gets onto the back of a motor bike. The foam was used in the pillion seat, they drive away. Pan from "Harley Street" sign to man with brief case. Interior Surgeons consultation room examining the foam. Could it be used in Hospitals ? Approaching London L.C.C. buildings off Westminster Bridge. In an office the L.C.C. official looks at the foam. Shots of the cheaper mattresses used in hospitals being cleaned.

A hand opens pieces of folded paper from a "Suggestions" box. They need a name for the product. One paper has "Dunlopillo" written on it. Shot of the 1932 trade name "Dunlopillo". Ext. Archway Hospital Highgate. Nurses attend to elderly men in hospital beds. Report from the hospital outlines the advantages of Dunlopillo, hygienic, no replacement and maintenance costs, recommended. Mattresses are unloaded outside the hospital.

Sign for L.G.O.C. Divisional Office. A man blows tobacco smoke into a piece of Dunlopillo and hands it to a man behind his desk. He bends it and finds it has better porosity. The cells are interconnected. Smiles all round. It will on London Omnibuses. 1930 buses driving in front of the Bank of England in the city.

A group of newly recruited salesmen attend a meeting in Dunlop H.O. Dunlopillo advertisements, and a stand at the 1934 Ideal Home Exhibition in Olympia. Dunlop workers queue to collect their wages. Sign for "Pathe Equipment Ltd.". Hands feel a piece of Dunlopillo for Cinema seating. They place it on an arm rest. Although it costs three times as much as other products, they order enough for 500 seats. Smiles all round.

Stratford-upon-Avon. Shakespeare Memorial Theatre. They order Dunlopillo for their seating. Fort Dunlop Tower, WS of factory complex. Hands and papers on a board room table. Buses in Piccadilly. Cinema seats. Ext. Morden Cinema, and Forum at Ealing. Order forms, including one from Pathe. Mattresses unloaded from the back of a lorry