By Dr. Trent Turdstack
Greetings, fellow wink shout enthusiasts! It is I, Dr. Trent Turdstack, here to drop some serious knowledge (and perhaps a few odd sounds) on one of history’s most pressing questions.
For decades, we’ve all revered Mel Brooks’ 1974 masterpiece Blazing Saddles as the undisputed champion of the silver screen’s first audible fart. That campfire scene has become legendary. Warner Bros. executives reportedly tried to silence those sacred sounds, but Brooks, bless his courage, fought for final cut and gave us comedy gold.
But hold onto your whoopee cushions, dear readers. As a dedicated scholar of cinematic sphincter symphonies, I must report that Blazing Saddles was not the first.
According to deep archival digs (and a Vice article that warmed my heart), earlier films had already beaten Brooks to the punch. Norman Lear’s Cold Turkey (1971) features Edward Everett Horton cutting loose in a crowded car backseat. Going even further back, Yasujirō Ozu’s 1959 Japanese gem Good Morning includes its own polite yet potent instances of audible flatulence.
If we expand our definition to include those mouth-made “raspberries” (a term born from Cockney rhyming slang for “fart”), the trail goes all the way to the silent era. Laurel and Hardy were pioneers: Oliver Hardy blowing one at a cop in 1929’s Double Whoopee and Stan Laurel’s loose tooth providing recurring cheeky sound effects in Pardon Us (1931). Even W.C. Fields snuck in a clever flat-tire gag in 1941’s Never Give a Sucker an Even Break.
The truth, my friends, is that the exact “first” may be lost to the mists of time. But one thing is certain: humanity has been finding ways to celebrate the mighty fart on screen for far longer than we realized.
So, the next time you rewatch Blazing Saddles and hear that glorious bean-powered chorus, tip your hat to Mel Brooks, and all the unsung heroes of early cinema who let it rip before him.
If this story made you smile (or roll your eyes), you might enjoy this book: The Smelly Truth About Marriage.
