source: Holiday in Spain

Moviecut—Holiday in Spain

Scent of Mystery

THE SCENT OF MYSTERY was brought in 1960 by Mike Todd. It was a 70 mm Technicolor thriller made in the new process of "Smell-O-Vision". The scents used - which ranged from ozone, pipe tobacco, garlic and oil, to paint, pine, wood shavings and boot polish - were piped to each individual cinema seat on cue from the "smell-track" of the film. However, the first film officially made as "smelly" was a wide-screen travelogue about India called BEHIND THE GREAT WALL (1929). It premiered at the DeMille Theater in New York and was accompanied by 72 smells that included incense, smoke, burning pitch, oranges, spices and a barnyard of geese. The scents were circulated thought the ventilating system.

One of the reviewer's complains that people are reviewing a movie that they have not seen the full version of and I just have seen what claims to be a fully restored version on TCM. It runs Close to two hours. I often enjoy movies that are quite terrible but somehow are unintentionally funny Or in someway watchable. But for myself only, I just found this really silly and boring. The one interesting thing about it is well photographed scenery and architecture. I gave it a four for that. But it unfortunately is not a travel log. We have "travel talks" for that. And yes, Peter Lorre is cute and fun as the taxi driver.

Some movies created to be used with in-theater tricks such as 3-D or Sensurround or whatever are entertaining to watch even without the gimmick. This isn't. The young Denholm Elliott makes a most unengaging leading man/narrator, and though Peter Lorre as his dirty old man sidekick perks things up a bit it's basically a low octane assemblage of corny gags and sub-Hitchcockian intrigue. Still, it's the film that inspired John Waters' classic Odorama classic "Polyester," which is quite a claim to fame in itself.

In Spain, touring birdwatcher Denholm Elliot and local cab driver Peter Lorre investigate a murder plot focused on beautiful Beverly Bentley. Jack Cardiff directs like he's shooting one of the beautiful travelogues he had done twenty years earlier.

I love the 1932 Renault Mona Quattro used in the film.

OK, I am basing this review on my recollection of this film, which I saw at the Warner Theater in Manhattan along with other members of my Brooklyn Cub Scout group back in 1960, at the age of nine. I recall the Scent -A- Vision aspect very well. The odors matched the action on the screen quite closely, and we kids enjoyed it, especially the scene where a guy is crushed to death by a rolling wine barrel, which breaks apart on impact. I recall little of the plot, but that was clearly not the point of the film, which in addition to the aromas was in color with nice cinematography. My rating is predicated on the presence of the Scent-A-Vision while watching the film.

I saw this movie with the smells. Since the smells in many cases served as clues, it would be confusing without them. The machine that generated the smells was located in the lobby for examination by theater goers. The smells were introduced to the theater using a compressed air system and after a few examples, the audience recognized the noise (which was minimal) and commented to each other "Here comes another one" All in all not really a very good movie but a fun experience. I don't really see how this could ever have been anything more than an experiment.