Distant Drums


Distant Drums is a 1951 American 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 American captain who successfully destroys a fort held by Spanish gunrunners and is pursued into the Everglades by a large group of Seminoles. The fort used in the film was the historic Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, Florida, and most of the principal photography occurred on location in Florida.

Plot

During the Second Seminole War in 1840, American general Zachary Taylor sends naval lieutenant Tufts and scout Monk to a remote Florida island home, where the reclusive captain Quincy Wyatt lives with his five-year-old son. The soldiers' mission is to destroy an old Spanish fort being used as a base for Spanish gunrunners aiding the Seminoles, and they convince the reluctant Wyatt to lead the small strike force as Taylor had requested.
Wyatt and his men successfully destroy the fort and rescue a group of prisoners held there. One of them, Judy Beckett, develops romantic feelings for Wyatt as they flee from a large group of pursuing Seminoles through the Everglades. The journey is perilous and several of the troops are killed, including one who is attacked by an alligator and dragged underwater. Wyatt leads the survivors to his remote homestead, where he is shocked to discover that his home has been burned and his son is missing. Meanwhile, the pursuing Seminoles arrive nearby, and Wyatt challenges their chief, Ocala, to single combat. Wyatt kills him in an underwater fight and the Seminoles flee. Soon after, he discovers that his son had been taken to safety before his home had been attacked, and they are reunited.

Cast

In a contemporary review for The [New York Times], critic Bosley Crowther wrote: "Don't look for novel surprise in this United States Pictures job. Niven Busch and Martin Rackin, who wrote it, dug it out of their memories, by and large. And Raoul Walsh, who directed, did so in precisely the same way that he has been directing such pictures for a matter of some twenty-five years. That is to say, Mr. Cooper is kept steady and laconic throughout, the action is serio-comic and the pace is conventionally maintained."

Legacy

During a scene in which Sheb Wooley's character is attacked by an alligator, his scream created the iconic sound effect known as the Wilhelm scream.