Vietnam! Vietnam! from Eric Spiegelman on Vimeo.

Film buffs curious to catch a long-lost part of cinema history can finally do so thanks to the arduous efforts of film preservationist Eric Spiegelman, whom after learning of a never-before-seen propaganda film executive produced by the late John Ford personally rescued the reels of the Rio Grande director’s “Vietnam! Vietnam!” from the National Archives. Spiegelman’s story regarding the efforts that he and his cousin made in restoring the film are pretty fascinating, and while the “Vietnam! Vietnam!” was apparently deemed “obsolete and embarrassing” the moment it was finished it’s still interesting to have this unique record of a crucial point in history.

Check out the embedded video for the full-length film, and hear the story of it’s restoration in Spiegelman’s own words here.

Some years back, I began hearing rumblings of a curious movie phenomena known as “The Wilhelm Scream.” Having been an avid movie buff my entire life, I instantly thought I knew precisely what this was. Over the years I had repeatedly heard a very distinct scream in various films and, excited at the prospect of finally finding out exactly where this scream originated, I clicked on a YouTube link directing me to a compilation of so-called “Wilhelm” screams. Much to my dismay, I instantly realized that a lingering movie mystery had not been solved, but in fact grown more complex than ever before. The scream I had been hearing all these movies and falsely assumed to be the “Wilhelm Scream” was in fact something else entirely - but what? …and where did this scream originate?

I wish I had the answer to this question, though the research I have conducted simply hasn’t yielded any solid results. That said, I’m putting this out there in hopes that our readers may be able to shed some light on a movie mystery that has perplexed me for some time now. Included below is a link to the scream I had assumed to be the “Wilhelm Scream.” The most recent places I recall hearing the scream are in the movie Face/Off as Sean Archer (in Castor Troy-face) shoots a guard in the foot while making a dangerous prison break, and in the final frames of the trailer for the hallucinogenic comedy horror Shrooms.

Check out the mystery scream by clicking here, and by all means let us know if you can shed some much needed light on the matter!