What do the following otherwise high-minded, and Oscar-winning, movies have in common? Against all odds, a memorable scene involving farts.

The Usual Suspects

The plot: a bunch of career criminals meet up at a police lineup and plot a heist. During the lineup, they’re all told to read a line by a police officer, but none of them can keep a straight face. It seems like they just have very little respect for the cops or the proceedings, but in reality, the cast couldn’t stop laughing because actor Benicio Del Toro could not stop farting. In 1996, The Usual Suspects won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay…even though this moment was totally unscripted.

Rain Man

As Raymond (Dustin Hoffman) and Charlie (Tom Cruise) huddle up in a phone booth to make a call, Raymond says, “I farted.” Charlie then reacts considerably to the terrible smell. There was very little acting here—Hoffman farted for real, and he was just telling his co-star to be aware. In 1989, Rain Man won Best Picture (and Hoffman won Best Actor).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5SZ-KoXacg
MANA: There’s an F-bomb in this clip – not sure if that’s okay or not. Delete at will!

Dances with Wolves

Kevin Costner won a Best Director Oscar for this movie, which also won Best Picture. About a U.S. serviceman who finds respect for both nature the disappearing Native American tribes due to American government policies, it’s also got a fart scene. A character named Timmons (Robert Pastorelli) delivers Lt. Dunbar (Costner) to his post. When they stop to camp, Dunbar journals his thoughts and draws some pictures…and Timmons passes gas, telling Dunbar to “put that in your book.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKjFLUFGkws

Blazing Saddles

Well, Blazing Saddles is probably more memorable for its fart sequence than it is for its awards cache. But the classic 1974 Mel Brooks Western parody Blazing Saddles, a movie in which cowboys sit around a campfire eating beans and letting ’em rip, was also nominated for three Academy Awards. It got nods for Best Original Song, Best Film Editing, and Best Supporting Actress (Madeline Kahn). It didn’t win any, which really took the “wind” out of everybody’s sails.