''Gwiaździsta eskadra'' (''The Starry Squadron'') is a

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

1930 Polish

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

directed by Leonard Buczkowski. Shot with the co-operation of the

Polish army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stre ...

, it was the most expensive Polish film made before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. It was first released as

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...

, before later being re-released with sound.

Plot

''Gwiaździsta eskadra'' told the romantic story of love between a Polish girl and an American volunteer pilot in the Polish 7th Air Escadrille (better known as the Kościuszko Squadron) during the Polish-Soviet War of 1919–1921. The story was inspired by the actual life of

Merian C. Cooper Merian Caldwell Cooper (October 24, 1893 – April 21, 1973) was an American filmmaker and Academy Award winner, as well as a former aviator who served as an officer in the United States Air Force and Polish Air Force. In film, he is credited a ...

, a Polish Air Force officer during the war, but much better known for his later career as an adventurer, director, screenwriter and producer. Cooper fathered Polish translator and writer Maciej Słomczyński during his time in Poland.

Loss of film copies

All copies of this film were destroyed during the Soviet occupation of Poland after World War II.

Cast

* Barbara Orwid - as Lili * Jana Krysta - as Zofia * Jerzy Kobusz - as Bond * Janusz Halny - as Woyda *

Stefan Szwarc Stefan may refer to: * Stefan (given name) * Stefan (surname) * Ștefan, a Romanian given name and a surname * Štefan, a Slavic given name and surname * Stefan (footballer) (born 1988), Brazilian footballer * Stefan Heym, pseudonym of German writ ...

* Andrzej Karewicz * Barbara Ludwiżanka * Zygmunt Biesiadecki

References

External links

Starry Squadron: The Polish Film That Never Was
on Culture.pl *

1930 films Lost Polish films Polish war films 1930s Polish-language films Aviation films Polish black-and-white films Polish silent films Polish–Soviet War 1930 war films 1930 lost films {{war-film-stub