- Distant Drums
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This article is about the movie. For the song, see Distant Drums (song).
Distant Drums 
Movie poster for the film Distant DrumsDirected by Raoul Walsh Produced by Milton Sperling Written by Niven Busch
Martin RackinStarring Gary Cooper
Richard Webb
Mari AldonMusic by Max Steiner Cinematography Sidney Hickox Editing by Folmar Blangsted Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures Release date(s) 
December 25, 1951 (New York City, New York)
December 29 (wide)
February 13, 1952
March 27
August 1
September 11
September 19
December 18Running time 101 min. Country United States Language English 
Mari Aldon and Richard Webb in Florida for the movie premiere.
Distant Drums is a 1951 film (more specifically, a "Florida Western") directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Gary Cooper. It is set during the Second Seminole War in the 1840s, with Cooper playing an Army captain who destroys a fort held by the Seminole Indians then retreats into the Everglades while under chase.
The actual location of the fort in the film was the historic Castillo de San Marcos.
The enduring legacy of this movie is the earliest known use of the Wilhelm scream sound effect, originally used to vocalize a character being torn to pieces by an alligator.[1]
The title of Pedro Almodóvar's film Tacones lejanos (literally "Distant Heels" but released as High Heels) is a reference to the Spanish title of this film (Tambores lejanos).
Contents
Plot
In 1840, U.S. Army General Zachary Taylor sends out Lieutenant Tufts and scout Monk to a remote Florida island home where the reclusive Captain Quincy Watts lives with a 5-year-old son.
The soldiers' mission is to rescue men and women taken prisoner by Seminole warriors. One of them, Judy Beckett, develops a romantic attraction to Capt. Watts as they flee the Indians into the Everglades.
Most of the other Army troops are massacred after Watts and Tufts separate from them to construct canoes. Back at his home, Watts is distraught to find that his son is gone. He has an underwater fight to the death with Seminole chief Ocala, then is relieved to learn that his boy is safe.
Cast
- Gary Cooper as Watts
- Richard Webb as Tufts
- Mari Aldon as Judy
External links
- Distant Drums at the Internet Movie Database
- Distant Drums at AllRovi
Notes
- ^ Lee, Steve (2005-05-17). "The WILHELM Scream". hollywoodlostandfound.net. http://www.hollywoodlostandfound.net/wilhelm/. Retrieved 2009-06-23.
Films directed by Raoul Walsh 1910s The Life of General Villa (1914) · Regeneration (1915) · Carmen (1915) · The Serpent (1916) · The Prussian Cur (1918)1920s Kindred of the Dust (1922) · Lost and Found on a South Sea Island (1923) · The Thief of Bagdad (1924) · The Lucky Lady (1926) · What Price Glory? (1926) · Sadie Thompson (1928) · The Cock-Eyed World (1929) · Hot for Paris (1929)1930s The Big Trail (1930) · The Man Who Came Back (1931) · The Yellow Ticket (1931) · Wild Girl (1932) · Me and My Gal (1932) · Sailor's Luck (1933) · Hello, Sister! (1933) · The Bowery (1933) · Going Hollywood (1933) · Every Night at Eight (1935) · Klondike Annie (1936) · Big Brown Eyes (1936) · Artists and Models (1937) · Hitting a New High (1937) · College Swing (1938) · St. Louis Blues (1939) · The Roaring Twenties (1939)1940s Dark Command (1940) · They Drive by Night (1940) · High Sierra (1941) · The Strawberry Blonde (1941) · Manpower (1941) · They Died with Their Boots On (1941) · Desperate Journey (1942) · Gentleman Jim (1942) · Background to Danger (1943) · Northern Pursuit (1943) · Uncertain Glory (1944) · Objective, Burma! (1945) · Salty O'Rourke (1945) · The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945) · The Man I Love (1947) · Pursued (1947) · Cheyenne (1947) · Silver River (1948) · Fighter Squadron (1948) · One Sunday Afternoon (1948) · Colorado Territory (1949) · White Heat (1949)1950s Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (1951) · Along the Great Divide (1951) · Distant Drums (1951) · Glory Alley (1952) · The World in His Arms (1952) · Blackbeard the Pirate (1952) · The Lawless Breed (1953) · Sea Devils (1953) · A Lion Is in the Streets (1953) · Gun Fury (1953) · Saskatchewan (1954) · Battle Cry (1955) · The Tall Men (1955) · The Revolt of Mamie Stover (1956) · The King and Four Queens (1956) · Band of Angels (1957) · The Naked and the Dead (1958) · The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw (1958) · A Private's Affair (1959)1960s Categories:- English-language films
- 1951 films
- 1966 singles
- American films
- Films shot in Technicolor
- Seminole Wars
- 1960s Western films
- Films directed by Raoul Walsh
- Warner Bros. films
- Films set in Florida
- Western film stubs
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