Speaker 1: Welcomed Aaron Manky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of iHeartRadio
Speaker 1: and Grim and Mild. Our world is full of the unexplainable,
Speaker 1: and if history is an open book, all of these
Speaker 1: amazing tales are right there on display, just waiting for
Speaker 1: us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. It's
Speaker 1: the dream of many a reader. A vast library stocked
Speaker 1: with beautiful leather bound tomes in all sizes and colors,
Speaker 1: and inside their stiff covers pages of cepia toned vellum
Speaker 1: with the words of the greatest writers in history, like Austin,
Speaker 1: Duma and Shakespeare. Rare book collections often have these volumes
Speaker 1: in their own libraries, some behind glass, others in thick
Speaker 1: But one book has eluded every reader and collector for
Speaker 1: over one hundred years, and for good reason, because no
Speaker 1: one can get to it. It had started life as
Speaker 1: a series of poems written in the eleventh and twelfth
Speaker 1: centuries by Persian polymath Omar Kam. In the mid eighteen hundreds,
Speaker 1: of poet named Edward Fitzgerald decided to translate these quat
Speaker 1: trains into a collection called the Rubiat of Omar Khayam
Speaker 1: Rubiat is Persian by the way for Quatrain. Fitzgerald's book
Speaker 1: became quite popular all the way into the twentieth century,
Speaker 1: so much so that English bookstore owner John Stonehouse commissioned
Speaker 1: a special edition of the collection for his own shop
Speaker 1: in nineteen ten. He went to London bookbinder's Sangorski and Sutcliffe,
Speaker 1: known for their impeccable quality and flair, for the dramatic
Speaker 1: Stonehouse instructed co owner Francis Sangorski to do it, and
Speaker 1: do it well. There is no limit. Put what you
Speaker 1: like into the binding, charge what you like for it. Money,
Speaker 1: in other words, was no object, because the amount that
Speaker 1: the final product would bring would make it all worth it.
Speaker 1: The front and back covers were made up hundreds of
Speaker 1: layers of leather. One thousand jewels were inlaid on the
Speaker 1: front and back within their own settings. Gold tooling adorned
Speaker 1: the elaborate covers, while end sheets bearing images of peacocks,
Speaker 1: skulls and Persian symbols were made for the inside. The
Speaker 1: designs of these end pages were meant to represent life
Speaker 1: and death. It was called the Great Omar, and it
Speaker 1: was the definition of opulence and extravagance. At the time,
Speaker 1: Stonehouse called it the finest and most remarkable specimen of
Speaker 1: binding ever designed or produced at any period or in
Speaker 1: any country. Completed in nineteen eleven, it represented the best
Speaker 1: that Sangorsky in Sutcliffe had to offer. Now, the store
Speaker 1: that Stonehouse managed, Southern's, put it up for sale at
Speaker 1: the eyewatering price of one thousand pounds equivalent to about
Speaker 1: one hundred and twenty thousand pounds today. But not everyone
Speaker 1: was taken with a book. Many believe that its design
Speaker 1: was ostentatious and tacky, and this only made it harder
Speaker 1: to sell. But then a book the alert named Gabriel
Speaker 1: Wells stopped into Southernds. He was visiting from New York,
Speaker 1: and offered the shop eight hundred pounds for the Great Omar.
Speaker 1: Stonehouse declined. The offer encountered at nine hundred pounds, but
Speaker 1: they still couldn't come to an agreement. It was soon
Speaker 1: decided that the Great Omar would go to New York
Speaker 1: to be sold anyway where it might find more willing buyers.
Speaker 1: The book was loaded onto a ship and was sent out,
Speaker 1: although it ran into some trouble when US customs officials
Speaker 1: required a hefty duty tax to be paid in order
Speaker 1: for the tome to be released. Refusing to pay the fee,
Speaker 1: the Omar made its way back to London, still unwanted
Speaker 1: by any buyers or collectors. The bookstores owner, Henry Cecil
Speaker 1: wanted it sold as quickly as possible. He had been
Speaker 1: kept out of the loop on its creation, and demanded
Speaker 1: that he recoup at least some of the money that
Speaker 1: had been spent on making it, And so it went
Speaker 1: up for auction at Sotheby's, where it sold for four
Speaker 1: hundred and five pounds two Gabriel Wells. It was April
Speaker 1: of nineteen twelve and the Great Omar was loaded onto
Speaker 1: the next ship headed to its new home of New
Speaker 1: York City. Sadly, just a few days into the trip,
Speaker 1: the vessel struck an iceberg and sank to the bottom
Speaker 1: of the Atlantic. That's right, The gold and jewel encrusted
Speaker 1: rubiat of Omar Khayem now resides somewhere within the wreckage
Speaker 1: of the unsinkable Titanic, seemingly lost forever. Many years after
Speaker 1: the sinking, the plans for the Omar were discovered by
Speaker 1: Sutcliffe's nephew, Stanley Bray, who had been hired as an
Speaker 1: apprentice bookbinder. He thought it would be a good idea
Speaker 1: to rebank the book, Jewels and all, and spent most
Speaker 1: of the nineteen thirties cloning the work that his uncle
Speaker 1: and Sangorsky had done. By the time it was finally finished,
Speaker 1: though the Germans were flying over London, bombs dropped from
Speaker 1: the sky, sending everyone fleeing. Bray did his best to
Speaker 1: protect his new great Omar, wrapping it up and putting
Speaker 1: it in a vault on four Street for safe keeping. Well,
Speaker 1: as it so happened, four Street was the first place
Speaker 1: the Germans bomb. That area was reduced to ash and
Speaker 1: rubble in an instant Once the debris had been cleared away.
Speaker 1: Sometime later, the vault was located and Bray's Omar was found.
Speaker 1: The covers looked to be in fine shape. The protective
Speaker 1: wrapping and the safety of the vault appeared to have
Speaker 1: saved this second edition from destruction. Unfortunately, looks, as they
Speaker 1: often are, were deceiving, because as soon as the book
Speaker 1: was opened, it was clear that the pages and much
Speaker 1: of the leather had been melted by the heat from
Speaker 1: the blasts. It seems that no matter how Hard Sangorski
Speaker 1: in Sutcliffe and Bray tried a bejeweled version of the
Speaker 1: Rubaiyat of Omar Khayem was never meant to exist. Some
Speaker 1: say the book was cursed. Others, such as Sir John Fortescue,
Speaker 1: King Edward, the Seventh Librarian within Windsor Castle, would call
Speaker 1: it the most eminent failure perhaps that I ever saw.
Speaker 1: Sought after in popular books often come with that age
Speaker 1: old compliment I couldn't put it down. But for this book,
Speaker 1: at least, the opposite has always been true. No one
Speaker 1: can pick it up. Our favorite movies have a tendency
Speaker 1: to stick in our brains forever. We incorporate memorable lines
Speaker 1: into everyday conversations, we shiver every time the music swells
Speaker 1: during the climax, and we happily press play on our
Speaker 1: remotes when we need something to make us feel better
Speaker 1: after a bad day, whether it's the terrifying two notes
Speaker 1: of John William's Jaws theme or the way Humphrey Bogart
Speaker 1: tells Ingrid Berman to get on that plane at the
Speaker 1: end of Casablanca. The movies that shape our lives are
Speaker 1: as much a part of us as our DNA, but
Speaker 1: there's one line that's been uttered in over four hundred
Speaker 1: films and television shows, and that number keeps growing. Although
Speaker 1: it's not really a line of dialogue, it's more of
Speaker 1: a pained yell. It first appeared in the nineteen fifty
Speaker 1: one Western Distant Drums, starring Gary Cooper. In the film,
Speaker 1: which takes place during the Second Seminal War of eighteen forty,
Speaker 1: a group of soldiers helped get several prisoners to safety
Speaker 1: by trekking through the floor to everglades. The sound is
Speaker 1: heard as the party navigates a swamp and one of
Speaker 1: the men is devoured by a hungry alligator. According to
Speaker 1: the stories, the scream that the character lets out as
Speaker 1: he's been eaten was recorded by American singer Cheb Woolly,
Speaker 1: and Woolley went on to appear in a number of
Speaker 1: high profile films, including High Noon, The Outlawed, Josie Wales,
Speaker 1: and Hoosiers, but he is perhaps best known for his
Speaker 1: hit novelty song The Purple People Eater, released in nineteen
Speaker 1: fifty eight. What Woolley didn't realize at the time was
Speaker 1: that his scream would endure well beyond his death in
Speaker 1: two thousand and three, in fact, it might not last
Speaker 1: us all. The recording was cataloged by the studio as
Speaker 1: man getting bit by an alligator and he screams, which
Speaker 1: doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. It wouldn't gain its
Speaker 1: common name until after its use in a nineteen fifty
Speaker 1: three film called The Charge at Feather River. This was
Speaker 1: another Western one in which a character named Private Wilhelm
Speaker 1: screamed after being shot in the leg by an arrow.
Speaker 1: This now iconic moment tied the sound effect to the character.
Speaker 1: In almost twenty five years later, it would gain its
Speaker 1: much shorter and memorable name, the Wilhelm Scream. But why
Speaker 1: did it take nearly a quarter of a century for
Speaker 1: the Wilhelm scream to catch on? For that, we turned
Speaker 1: to a man named Ben Bert. Bert was a Hollywood
Speaker 1: sound designer who only had two films under his belt
Speaker 1: when he was tapped to join a little science fiction
Speaker 1: movie called Star Wars in nineteen seventy seven. Unlike other
Speaker 1: sci fi films of the past, which relied on electronic
Speaker 1: sounds to give them a futuristic feel, Bert developed an
Speaker 1: ear for more natural sound effects. For example, these sound
Speaker 1: a lightsaber makes is a combination of an idline film
Speaker 1: projector and the feedback emitted by a broken television. But
Speaker 1: for one scene in the picture, where a stormtrooper falls
Speaker 1: to his death, Bert needed a sound effect that was
Speaker 1: perfect for the moment, and so he turned to Private
Speaker 1: Wilhelm's faded scream from The Charge at Feather River. The
Speaker 1: Wilhelm scream became Bert's signature, an indication that he had
Speaker 1: worked on a film's sound design. You can hear it
Speaker 1: in the Indiana Jones movies, the Star Wars sequel and prequels,
Speaker 1: and even nineteen eighty eight's Willow, all of which Bert
Speaker 1: had had a hand in. But a funny thing happened
Speaker 1: after Bert first used the scream, it took on a
Speaker 1: life of its own. Since nineteen seventy seven, the Wilhelm's
Speaker 1: scream has become a staple of the motion picture industry,
Speaker 1: appearing in hundreds of movies and TV shows like Disney's
Speaker 1: Toy Story, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Sam
Speaker 1: Ramie's Spider Man from two thousand and two. It also
Speaker 1: became something of an easter egg for film buffs everywhere.
Speaker 1: In fact, at a two thousand and six screening of
Speaker 1: the Charge at feather River. A large portion of the
Speaker 1: audience erupted with applause when Private Wilhelm's leg was punctured
Speaker 1: by the arrow. They weren't happy that he was injured.
Speaker 1: They were just glad to hear his iconic scream in
Speaker 1: all its blood curdling glory. I hope you've enjoyed today's
Speaker 1: guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free
Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by
Speaker 1: visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by
Speaker 1: me Aaron Manke in partnership with how Stuff Works. I
Speaker 1: make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast,
Speaker 1: book series, and television show, and you can learn all
Speaker 1: about it over at the World Offlore dot com. And
Speaker 1: until next time, stay curious.