SBD's in movie "Ensign Pulver" NOW with Photos!

[Jerry O'Neill]

I was just watching the 1964 film "Ensign Pulver" and about in the middle, just before Robert Walker meets the Nurses getting off the C-47, he walks by two SBD's being worked on under camo netting.
They were natural metal, had no wings and nothing forward of the firewall. Both were sitting on 55 Gallon drums with no apparent main gear. Could these have been or were to become the two of the MGM wind machines? I'll try to get a screen pic.
Also, since it was filmed in Alcapulco, they may have been SBD hulks found in Mexico.
I hadn't seen the film in years so I only remembered the Albatross portraying a PBY in "Mr. Roberts".
Jerry

Last edited by Jerry O'Neill on Sun Oct 03, 2010 1:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Jerry O'Neill]

Here are some pics from the film:





and the C-47 "Super Gal"


What do you think?
They shot the film in Mexico in 1963. Too bad these aren't still around.
Jerry

[Holedigger]

Cool, have to watch for that movie to come around, have never seen it. I imagine that back in the 60's there were a lot of hulks like that just sitting around. Sad to think of all the beer cans and lawn chairs that they became.

[skymstr02]

What do you think?
They shot the film in Mexico in 1963. Too bad these aren't still around.
Jerry

LSFM's SBD (A-24B) is one of those airplanes. So at least one of them is still around.

[Jerry O'Neill]

That is very cool. I didn't know LSFM's was such a hulk before they got it!
Thanks.
Jerry

[skymstr02]

That is very cool. I didn't know LSFM's was such a hulk before they got it!
Thanks.
Jerry

I worked on it for 2 1/2 years, and there were several others that were working on it when I started. I beleive that we figured somewhere around 13-15,000 man hours went into the restoration.

We found a 1944 buffalo nickel in the muck in the bottom fuselage when cleaning it, and found a signature from a Douglas worker on the back side of the firewall, near the bottom.

[aerovin]

What do you think?
They shot the film in Mexico in 1963. Too bad these aren't still around.
Jerry

LSFM's SBD (A-24B) is one of those airplanes. So at least one of them is still around.

Maybe, but I'm not so sure that one of those hulks is the LSFM machine. Two very intact and complete A-24s came out of Mexico in 1963...both had civll Mexican schemes with Mexican registrations applied (XB-ZAH and XB-QUC). One was cosmetically restored at Tallmantz until it looked like this:



This one was sold via auction in 1968 and eventually ended up with the LSFM. The other Mexican A-24 went to the Air Museum after briefly being owned by Tallmantz.

I have the registration file on the LSFM airplane somewhere, and it has the date that Frank Tallman purchased it in 1963 in Mexico. It would be interesting to compare dates of filming with date of acquisition, but neither of those airplanes look anything like how XB-ZAH looked when Tallman purchased it.