The Wilhelm Scream

So I was checking out some cool Lost ark trivia inspired by Jimbo's trip to India.

I came across a topic that has a great place in "unknown movie history" Lots of this post is taken from some other pages, and while it is not original material, it is interesting nonetheless

In 1951, the Warner Bros. film "Distant Drums" directed by Raoul Walsh starred Gary Cooper as Captain Quincy Wyatt, who leads a group of soldiers to stop some Seminole Indians from threatening settlers in early 19th Century Florida. During a scene in which the soldiers are wading through a swamp in the everglades, one of them is bitten and dragged underwater by an alligator.As is usually the case with the making of a movie, the scream for that character was recorded later. Six short pained screams were recorded in a single take, which was slated "man getting bit by an alligator, and he screams." The fifth scream was used for the soldier - but the 4th, 5th, and 6th screams recorded in the session were also used earlier in the film when three Indians are shot, one after another, during a raid on a fort.

So this scream after being dubbed by Warner brothers has been used in multiple movies and has been heard by everyone many many times. It has a name...the Wilhelm Scream. Star Wars sound director Ben Burtt researched the history of the sound. Burtt named it after "Pvt. Wilhelm", a minor character who emitted the same scream in the 1953 movie The Charge at Feather River.

I found a great compilation on youtube.

For Some of you geeky movie people (And you know who you are), this is old news. I found the topic interesting, and while I knew the sound, I did not know the history behind it.