# Where does the musical theme for Indians in old Hollywood movies come from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 4, 2005, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-musical-theme-for-indians-in-old-hollywood-movies-come-from/288376 "2005-02-04T16:13:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-musical-theme-for-indians-in-old-hollywood-movies-come-from/288376/1 "2005-02-04T16:13:17Z")
Inspired by the thread on stereotypical Chinese music in old movies, could anybody tell me where that music originates that they always play in old Hollywood films when the Injuns appear on the horizon. Sort of Daah-dah-dah-DAH-daah. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-musical-theme-for-indians-in-old-hollywood-movies-come-from/288376/2 "2005-02-04T16:43:48Z")
Are you talking about the open-fifths thing? ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-musical-theme-for-indians-in-old-hollywood-movies-come-from/288376/3 "2005-02-04T16:59:40Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Are you talking about the open-fifths thing? I haven’t a clue as I can’t read music. It’s the musical motif that ALWAYS accompanies the appearance of the injuns in a 50s western. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-musical-theme-for-indians-in-old-hollywood-movies-come-from/288376/4 "2005-02-04T17:08:03Z")
Just a guess, but I would check out the Oscar-winning score of _.[Stagecoach](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0031971/)_ (1939), when the Apaches attack. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-musical-theme-for-indians-in-old-hollywood-movies-come-from/288376/5 "2005-02-04T17:38:37Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Inspired by the thread on stereotypical Chinese music in old movies, could anybody tell me where that music originates that they always play in old Hollywood films when the Injuns appear on the horizon. Sort of Daah-dah-dah-DAH-daah. do you mean _Theme from Dragnet_ (Danger Ahead) [sample here](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00006EXIL/qid=1107539078/sr=2-3/ref=pd_ka_b_2_3/104-7654352-8520730) ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-musical-theme-for-indians-in-old-hollywood-movies-come-from/288376/6 "2005-02-04T19:49:58Z")
The idea of the _Dragnet_ theme announcing the Indians is irresistable, but I think the theme we’re talking about goes (and sorry about the clumsy musical notation): A, G A-E-E, D E-A-A With the last two _A_s being lower. Played over the sound of tom-toms beating. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-musical-theme-for-indians-in-old-hollywood-movies-come-from/288376/7 "2005-02-04T20:29:58Z")
There is a passage in Dvoraks “American Symphony” that sounds very much like cliched Hollywood “injun music”. Anyone who’s heard the symphony will know what I’m talking about. I’ve always wondered if a lot of the film music was based on Dvorak. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-musical-theme-for-indians-in-old-hollywood-movies-come-from/288376/8 "2005-02-04T23:45:38Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > There is a passage in Dvoraks “American Symphony” that sounds very much like cliched Hollywood “injun music”. Anyone who’s heard the symphony will know what I’m talking about. > > I’ve always wondered if a lot of the film music was based on Dvorak. **Spectre** nailed it. Antonin Dvorak composed his Symphony No 9 - “From the New World” in the 1890s. The Third movement, which some scholars say was adapted from a planned operatic treatment of the Hiawatha legend, was immitated or outright stolen by early film composers who wanted music that “sounded” Native American. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2005, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-musical-theme-for-indians-in-old-hollywood-movies-come-from/288376/9 "2005-02-05T00:30:45Z")
The Dvorak “Indian” theme isn’t the same as the theme I sketched above. It’s not the cliché you hear in movies. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5ac83/32.png) [@The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mad_Hermit)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2005, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-musical-theme-for-indians-in-old-hollywood-movies-come-from/288376/10 "2005-02-05T02:47:04Z")
Is it the chant heard from the crowd at Florida State Seminoles games?