The Wilhelm Scream

Ken AshfordPopular CultureLeave a Comment

In 1951, a Gary Cooper film called "Distant Drums" was being filmed.  The scene called for a man to get eaten by an alligator.

As is usual in filmmaking, the actual scream was dubbed in later and edited into the film.  That recorded scream later went into the sound recording vaults of Warner Brothers studios.

It became known as the "Wilhelm Scream", and has been used in hundreds of movies since then.  Including the recent re-make of "King Kong", "Cars", all the Indiana Jones movies, and so on.

Yes, the same scream.  It’s kind of a cult thing among sound editors.

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