The Wilhelm Scream

For my first official post of 2012 and to celebrate A Chick & Her Flicks being a year old, I'd like to let out a little "scream."

I was trying to find out how much money Carrie Fisher made for Star Wars the other day and wound up reading trivia about the movie on IMDB.  I mentioned to my husband that it was this movie that re-popularized the Wilhelm Scream!  He looked at me and said, "The what?"  I turned in my chair and said, "You know, that short scream that you hear in all sorts of movies?"

If you, like the hubs, have never heard of the Wilhelm Scream before, let me enlighten you.

In 1951, Warner Bros. filmed "Distant Drums" starring Gary Cooper as Captain Quincy Wyatt, a man who leads a group of soldiers to stop some Seminole Indians from threatening settlers in early 19th century Florida.  There is scene where the soldiers are going through a swamp and one of them is bitten and dragged underwater by an alligator.

As is usually the case with the making of a movie, the scream was recorded by an actor in a studio.  Six short screams were recorded, with number 5 being used for the scene above.  Other takes of the scream are used earlier in the film as well.

After the sound recording was finished, it was archived in the studio's sound effects library and reused in many Warner Bros. productions.

In the 1953 film "The Charge at Feather River" the scream is heard again when a soldier named Pvt. Wilhelm gets shot in the leg by an arrow.  This film also used the scream recording two other times as well.

Up until the mid-70's, the scream was used exclusively in Warner Bros. films.  In 1977 Ben Burtt was hired to create the sound effects for "Star Wars."  As a film student Burtt had noticed that the same scream kept appearing in different films.  When he was hired for Star Wars he had the chance to do some research on the scream and named it "Wilhelm" after the character in "The Charge at Feather River."

Although the "signature" or "classic" screams, takes 4-6 on the original recording, are the most recognizable, all of the screams are referred to as "Wilhelm" by those in the sound community.

Though there is no specific credit to who recorded the scream, research by Ben Burtt leads to Sheb Wooley, who had an uncredited role on "Distant Drums," as the original voice actor who recorded the scream.  Wooley is most remembered for his 1958 song "The Purple People Eater" and as scout Pete Nolan on the Television series Rawhide.

The Wilhelm Scream has been used in over 225 movies, television shows and video games!!!

I guarantee you, now that you know about this scream, you WILL notice it when it pops up in a movie you are watching!  Feel free to point out to all those watching with you, what it's called and the history behind it.  I'm sure they'll be impressed!

Here are a few clips for you to see how many different types of productions the scream has been used in.

Warning: Due to the fact that it's a "scream" not all the clips are rated G.