Happy Birthday to the Wilhelm Scream, Hollywood's Most Important Sound
There are certain sounds that have become a staple of movies over the decades. From the 20th Century fanfare to THX’s synthesized Deep Note crescendo and the musical sting that opens The Matrix, hearing them elicits some kind of feeling for older moviegoers, even if it’s just the simple feeling of nostalgia. And then there’s the Wilhelm Scream—which when heard, usually elicits the feeling of “There it is!”
The sound effect that’s been heard in countless movies and TV shows over the decades technically has two birthdays. As a sound itself, it originally debuted in the 1951 film Distant Drums from singer-songwriter Sheb Wooley. But it was officially given its name with the minor character of Private Wilhelm in The Charge at Feather River, a western that came out July 11, 1953. In that movie, Wilhelm (played by actor Ralph Brooks) screams after being shot in the thigh with an arrow, which would come to define its use: in all of its appearances in future media, it would be used when someone got shot, blasted back by an explosion, or fell from a high distance.
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