Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

Dragonfly Squadron 3D Blu-ray Movie Review

War and evidently marriage are hell.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 13, 2014

They say that timing is everything, in which case it’s surprising that Dragonfly Squadron is remembered at all. This 1954 war film (with melodramatic undertones) dealt with the early days of the Korean conflict, but came along well after “official” hostilities on the Korean Peninsula had ceased. Perhaps even more importantly (at least with regard to its place in film history), Dragonfly Squadron was intended to be a slam bang 3D (or 3-D in the orthography of the time) release. Unfortunately, by the end of 1953 it was already clear that the 3D craze was abating, and when Dragonfly Squadron finally premiered in early 1954, it was exhibited only as a so-called “flat” feature. In the hyperbolic verbiage of whatever studio hack developed the press materials for the film, Dragonfly Squadron supposedly “explodes with the intensity of an H-bomb!” (way to mine the subliminal Cold War fears of the American populace, film industry!), but the truth is the film is a rather turgid piece that revolves around a love triangle of sorts with what ultimately amounts to tangential elements involving an American major’s attempts to train South Korean pilots to “fight their own battles.” Dragonfly Squadron is an interesting curio, and its 3D restoration (courtesy of the esteemed Bob Furmanek and his team at the 3-D Archive) is superb, but perhaps due to a lack of real star power or a meandering screenplay, the film is (to use that explosive analogy above) kind of a dud.

If a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet, poverty row Monogram Studios still probably cranked out Grade B (or worse) material for most of its existence, even after it attempted to gloss up its name as Allied Artists. And the lo-fi ambience that generally typified this studio may be one of the elements that undercuts Dragonfly Squadron’s effectiveness, probably no more so than in the casting of the central trio upon which the film focuses. John Hodiak, a somewhat feral looking performer who never really seemed to muster the requisite charisma to be a bona fide leading man, plays the leading role, an American major working to train South Korean pilots. Leading lady Barbara Britton is similarly little remembered today, and in fact one of her claims to fame is that she appeared in two 3D films of the early fifties, this one and Bwana Devil. The “third wheel” here is ostensibly the weakest. While Bruce Bennett had a long and distinguished career as a character actor (after having medaled at the 1928 Olympics), here he’s asked to a be co-leading man, and putative romantic interest for Britton (in a manner of speaking, anyway—he plays her husband). Bennett’s character is supposed to be emotionally tamped down due to a recent trauma (more about that in a moment), but the actor’s lack of magnetism seems to make Britton’s character’s ultimate romantic decision a bit of a no brainer, enervating much of the supposed drama from the film.

Hodiak portrays Major Matt Brady, tasked with training a bunch of novice South Korean pilots in the art of aerial combat, a job made more difficult by its absurdly short timeframe. Throwing a wrench into the works is the fact that a former romantic interest of his, Donna Cottrell (Barbara Britton), is at the location where Brady has been stationed. Brady and Cottrell had hooked up during a period when Cottrell was under the mistaken belief that her husband, Red Cross doctor Stephen Cottrell (Bruce Bennett), had been killed by the North Koreans. Instead it turns out Cottrell had simply been taken prisoner, ultimately escaping after having been subjected to torture to his hands which has effectively ended his career as a surgeon. Already Dragonfly Squadron is on tenuous ground, both in terms of early fifties’ morality, where Donna’s torn emotions don’t square very well with “for better or worse, in sickness or in health,” but perhaps just as importantly in terms of the internal consistency of the film. It’s hinted that Donna and Brady engaged in a rather lengthy affair, one which seems to have been consummated (at least given Donna’s obvious angst), and yet it’s also mentioned that Cottrell escaped from captivity after about a week. Fast work, Major Brady!

This dysfunctional triangle provides most of the conflict in Dragonfly Squadron, as until the latter part of the film, there are only occasional skirmishes between allied and Communist forces due to the fact that “real” war hadn’t yet been declared. That gives Dragonfly Squadron a kind of lurching quality, where a brief (usually very brief) “action” sequence will simply interrupt the ongoing turmoil between the Cottrells and Brady.

Dragonfly Squadron’s somewhat ambivalent morality with regard to Donna and her supposedly conflicted heart is also echoed in a somewhat different way with regard to Dixon (Jess Barker), a kind of smarmy reporter who’s on hand and who ends up sounding almost like a Fifth Columnist, at least by the time the film is coming to its calamitous conclusion. There is also one downright shocking scene that somehow managed to get by censors of the period, where a North Korean woman who has been spying on Brady and his troops is summarily held down by several guys while she’s searched, and then is shot repeatedly (off screen). These semi-shocking tidbits, as questionable as they may be, at least add a little spice to an otherwise fairly formulaic stew.

The film does have some nicely done supporting performances, including two by future television Western stalwarts, Fess Parker and Chuck Conners. Dragonfly Squadron ultimately works up to some significant battle activity, finally shuttling the marital problems off screen when Donna more or less disappears for a long stretch partway through the film. Interestingly, the not so surprising denouement involving her “choice” (which is pretty much made for her due to events) is presented almost discursively and is only alluded to in passing by a minor character.

Dragonfly Squadron 3D Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Dragonfly Squadron is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films and the 3-D Archive with both AVC (2D) and MVC (3D) encoded 1080p transfers in 1.66:1. The elements have their fair share of age related wear and tear, including the expected scratches, positive and negative dirt, and various other minor blemishes. Grain is quite heavy throughout most of this presentation, and is considerably more noticeable in the frequent usages of stock footage (which should be expected). Contrast is generally very strong, offering a nice range of tones within the monochromatic palette and providing decently deep if not overwhelming black levels and nicely modulated gray scale. Detail is good to very good throughout the presentation, though it is occasionally moderated by the rather swarthy grain structure. Despite an abundance of nighttime and other relatively dark sequences, there are no issues with compression artifacts.

The real selling point to Dragonfly Squadron for most home video enthusiasts will be the chance to see it for the first time in 3D, and the work done by the 3-D Archive is very commendable indeed. This is not a gimmick laden "in your face" dimensional presentation (aside from occasional shots like a tank's gun aiming straight at the viewer as seen in screenshot 4), and in fact is rather subtle quite a bit of the time. That said, there is impressive depth throughout this presentation, with clear delineation in spatial planes and very clear entrees into the frame in virtually every shot. Some of the stock footage was obviously flat to begin with and therefore doesn't pop in the same way. The only really recurrent distraction here is the damage to elements, especially negative damage which here tends to show up as almost flashpaper- like glints of white or near silver, typically flying "out" of the frame toward the viewer.

Dragonfly Squadron 3D Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Dragonfly Squadron's LPCM 2.0 Mono mix also exhibits some age related wear and tear, with audible hiss and small cracks and pops evident throughout the presentation, especially in quieter passages. On the plus side, there are no real issues with dialogue and the action sequences contain some reasonably fulsome sounding effects like roaring plane engines and bombs exploding.

Dragonfly Squadron 3D Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 1:46)

Dragonfly Squadron 3D Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While it's clear that the creative forces behind Dragonfly Squadron wanted to make an earnest war film, they unfortunately chose to focus too much on the romantic angle involving the three main characters rather than the actual conflict. Even stranger, the Korean conflict was pretty much a done deal even by the time this film was shooting (let alone when it was ultimately released), making its whole point a little nebulous to begin with. The melodrama is fairly turgid here, and the battle sequences probably too few and far between to really satisfy action junkies, but as a historical curio Dragonfly Squadron retains quite a bit of interest, especially in this often stunning 3D presentation. While the film is no great shakes, this release comes Recommended.