Distant Drums

This article is about the movie. For the song, see Distant Drums (song).

Distant Drums is a 1951 "Florida Western" film 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 in St. Augustine, Florida, where most of the filming took place.

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.

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).

Plot

File:Mari Aldon and Richard Webb.jpg

Mari Aldon and Richard Webb in Florida for the movie premiere.

In 1840, U.S. Army General Zachary Taylor sends out naval Lieutenant Tufts and scout Monk to a remote Florida island home, where the reclusive Captain Quincy Wyatt lives with a 5-year-old son.

The soldiers' mission is to destroy an old Spanish fort used by gunrunners, and rescue men and women taken prisoner by Seminole warriors. One of them, Judy Beckett, develops a romantic attraction to Capt. Wyatt as they flee the Indians into the Everglades.

Most of the other Army troops are massacred after Wyatt and Tufts separate from them to construct canoes. Back at his home, Wyatt is distraught to find that his son is gone. He has an underwater fight to the death with Seminole chief Oscala, then is relieved to learn that his boy is safe.

Cast

• Gary Cooper as Wyatt
• Richard Webb as Tufts
• Mari Aldon as Judy
• Arthur Hunnicut as Monk
• Carl Harbaugh as Duprez
• Ray Teal as private Mohair
• Raymond Kentro as The Chief

External links

• Distant Drums at IMDb
• Distant Drums at AllMovie