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My new article about the production history and restoration of this lost 3-D film is now on your website. I hope that you enjoy it.
http://www.3dfilmarchive.com/home/dragonfly-squadron
The film features a good score by Paul Dunlap. He was hired for the project on September 14, 1953.
Does anybody know if his scores survive?
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He didn't keep them and they were thrown ina landfill; vinylscrubber reported these specifically as no longer existing in one thread:
"LOST CONTINENT, THE STEEL HELMET, DESERT SANDS, TARGET EARTH, and DRAGONFLY SQUADRON".
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Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Such a shame.
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Thanks, Joe. The restoration was truly a labor of love.
Sadly, the M&E tracks do not survive either.
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Yes, thanks Bob for your work on this restoration. My pre-order is in. DRAGONFLY SQUADRON was an "early show" favorite from my childhood days watching a chopped up print on Chicago's WMAQ Channel 5.
In fact, it wasn't until I caught up with that rare VHS release mentioned in your article that I actually got to see the first 8-10 minutes of the film, as Channel 5 would often fit it's early show offerings into a four-to-five-thirty spot with commercials by just lopping off the first 10 minutes of the film, dropping a viewer into the middle of a scene with little or no establishment of the characters. Luckily, it's a film of quickly sketched characters, populated by so many familiar faces from the 50's, including an early unbilled turn by Fess Parker.
SQUADRON's one big shortcoming is that despite being about U.S. pilots training South Korean pilots on the P-51, the script never bothers to turn any of the Korean pilots into a major character in the story--poor Benson Fong's officer is virtually a cameo role and the rest are relegated to background extras.
And, yes, Dunlap's typically epic score gives the film a much larger feel that belies the films limited budget.
It'll be great fun to see this in 3-D.
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