''Le Pétomane'' is a 1979 British short humorous film based on the life of ''

Le Pétomane Joseph Pujol (June 1, 1857 – August 8, 1945), better known by his stage name Le Pétomane (, ), was a French flatulist (professional farter) and entertainer. He was famous for his remarkable control of the abdominal muscles, which enabled him ...

'', the stage name of the late 19th century French

flatulist A flatulist, fartist, or professional farter is an entertainer often associated with a specific type of humor, whose routine consists solely or primarily of passing gas in a creative, musical, or amusing manner. History There are a number of ...

(professional farter) and entertainer Joseph Pujol who was famous for his remarkable control of the abdominal muscles, which enabled him to seemingly

fart Flatulence, in humans, is the expulsion of gas from the intestines via the anus, commonly referred to as farting. "Flatus" is the medical word for gas generated in the stomach or bowels. A proportion of intestinal gas may be swallowed environm ...

at will and whose 'farting' performances at the

Moulin Rouge Moulin Rouge (, ; ) is a cabaret in Paris, on Boulevard de Clichy, at Place Blanche, the intersection of, and terminus of Rue Blanche. In 1889, the Moulin Rouge was co-founded by Charles Zidler and Joseph Oller, who also owned the Paris Ol ...

in Paris drove his audiences to hysterics.

Synopsis

Joseph Pujol is a professional farter billed as

who is able to orchestrate his farts to music, to the delight of his Parisian audiences. By ingesting charcoal Pujol is able to generate the gastric gases essential for his stage act. For years he is the Toast of Paris, but with the passing years Pujol loses his muscular control, causing his act to fail in a cacophony of flatulent explosions.

Background

Running at 33 minutes, the film was directed by

Ian MacNaughton Edward Ian MacNaughton (30 December 1925 – 10 December 2002) was a Scottish actor-turned-television producer and director, best known for his work with the ''Monty Python'' team. MacNaughton was director and producer for all but four of the f ...

while the script was written by

Galton and Simpson Ray Galton OBE (17 July 1930 – 5 October 2018) and Alan Simpson OBE (27 November 1929 – 8 February 2017) were English comedy scriptwriters whose partnership lasted over 50 years. They met in 1948 whilst recuperating from tuberculosis ...

based on Pujol's story and starring veteran comic actor

Leonard Rossiter Leonard Rossiter (21 October 1926 – 5 October 1984) was an English actor. He had a long career in the theatre but achieved his highest profile for his television comedy roles starring as Rupert Rigsby in the ITV series '' Rising Damp'' fro ...

. The cast also included John D. Collins, Michael Cronin,

Alexandra Dane Alexandra Dane (born ''c''. 1940
''London Evening Standard'' (17 November 2011). Retrieved ...

John Harvey John Harvey may refer to: People Academics * John Harvey (astrologer) (1564–1592), English astrologer and physician * John Harvey (architectural historian) (1911–1997), British architectural historian, who wrote on English Gothic architecture ...

, Alun Lewis,

Roland MacLeod Roland MacLeod (1935 – 3 April 2010) was an English actor working in film and television. He was born in London. His television credits include '' Coronation Street'', '' Softly, Softly'', ''Ripping Yarns'', ''The Fall and Rise of Reginal ...

Nancy Nevinson Nancy Nevinson (26 July 1918 – 25 January 2012) was a British actress. She was born Nancy Ezekiel, one of four children of Reemah (née Kadoorie) and David Ezekiel, members of the Baghdadi-Jewish community of Calcutta, India, during the Raj. ...

Michael Ripper Michael George Ripper (27 January 1913 – 28 June 2000) was an English character actor. He began his film career in quota quickies in the 1930s and until the late 1950s was virtually unknown; he was seldom credited. Along with Michael Gough ...

Gordon Rollings Gordon Charles Rollings (17 April 1926 – 7 June 1985) was an English actor who mainly appeared on television, but also appeared on-stage and in feature films. He was born in Batley, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England in 1926 and start ...

Graham Stark Graham William Stark (20 January 1922 – 29 October 2013) was an English comedian, actor, writer and director. Early life The son of a purser on transatlantic liners,

and

Bob Todd Brian Todd (15 December 1921 – 21 October 1992), known professionally as Bob Todd, was an English comedy actor, mostly known for appearing as a straight man in the sketch shows of Benny Hill and Spike Milligan. For many years, he lived in ...

, with narration by Ronald Fletcher.''Le Pétomane''
on the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

website

References

External links

''Le Pétomane''
on the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

1979 films 1970s historical films British historical films British films based on actual events Films directed by Ian MacNaughton 1970s English-language films 1970s British films {{historic-film-stub