Scent of Mystery (1960) Online

1960 Denholm Elliott Peter Lorre Beverly Bentley Jack Cardiff

Original Title :: Scent of Mystery
Genre :: Movie / Mystery
Year :: 1960
Directror :: Jack Cardiff
Cast :: Denholm Elliott,Peter Lorre,Beverly Bentley
Writer :: Kelley Roos,William Roos
Type :: Movie
Time :: 2h 5min
Rating :: 5.8/10

Scent of Mystery (1960) Online

A vacationing Englishman (Denholm Elliott) stumbles upon a plot to kill a young American tourist (Beverly Bentley) in Spain.

Cast overview:
	Denholm Elliott	-	Oliver Larker
	Peter Lorre	-	Smiley
	Beverly Bentley	-	The Decoy Sally Kennedy
	Paul Lukas	-	Baron Saradin
	Liam Redmond	-	Johnny Gin
	Leo McKern	-	Tommy Kennedy
	Peter Arne	-	Robert Fleming
	Mary Laura Wood	-	Margharita
	Diana Dors	-	Winifred Jordan
	Judith Furse	-	Miss Leonard
	Maurice Marsac	-	Pepi
	Michael Trubshawe	-	English Aviator
	Juan Olaguivel	-	Truck Driver
	Billie Miller	-	Constance Walker

This film was shown in "Smell-O-Vision". The theatre was equipped with a system that gave off various odors in sync with the film. The opening scene involved a butterfly flitting through a rose garden, with accompanying delicious odors. Later on, a barrel of wine fell off a cart going up a hill, and rolled down the street only to smash at the bottom, again to the accompanying odor. The perfume of the Woman of the Mystery, i.e. Scent of Mystery [sic] was a key element to the story, and involved in the climax of the mystery.

The "Smell-O-Vision" gimmick did not work as intended. Moviegoers in the balcony said the aromas reached them too late to coincide with the onscreen action. Some said the scents were much too faint. Negative word-of-mouth and reviews doomed the movie and the gimmick.

The movie was re-released under the title "Holiday in Spain" without the odors, and shown in Cinerama equipped houses in 70mm as a single strip Cinerama presentation, much like a It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and several other films a few years later. It was not successful.

Elizabeth Taylor, who makes a cameo appearance at the end of the film, was married to Mike Todd whose son Michael Todd Jr. produced the film. She was married Eddie Fisher at the time who sang two songs on the soundtrack: "The Scent of Mystery" and "The Chase"

Peter Sellers was suggested by Jack Cardiff for the lead role, but Mike Todd Jr on meeting him, thought that he was a most humourless man, and rejected him outright.

The smell was not blown in through the air conditioning vents (As it was done in a previous film Behind the Great Wall.) - every seat had a little tube under it, and by the time the film played LA they'd perfected clearing the air between smells.

Not released in Britain until 1966, and without Smell-O-Vision.

Producer Michael Todd Jr. famously said of this film that he was the first film producer in history to make a film "and then admit that it smells"; he was not amused when most critics were quick to agree with him; sadly, for all concerned, the critics were right; it was a critical disaster, a financial failure.

The "Holiday in Spain" version of the film, sans scents, was reconstructed from surviving elements and released on in Smile-Box Blu-ray in 2014. No complete print of the original "Scent of Mystery" version of the film is known to exist. DVD notes explain the multitude of problems involved in putting it back together.

Nice plug for ESSO gasoline. While out of gas when Larker said, " I should have put a tiger in the tank!"

The mystery woman is listed in the initial end credits (of principle actors only, each displayed individually, not as a list) as played by Liz Molytar, the last name being an anagram of Taylor, plus the letter M (for mystery?). The character, who appears only in the final seconds of the film, is recognizably Liz Taylor, but without a speaking part.

In 1986, a Buffalo, New York organization called Smell-O-Vision Inc. sold the pan/scan version of the film, under its original title, to various independent television stations around the country, as a promotion in conjunction with local 7-Eleven stores, who sold scratch-and-sniff cards to potential victims in advance for 99 cents, so they could "sniff along with the film" [sic] as it was telecast. Pre-taped wraparounds by "Inspector Cluenose" [sic] and his secretary, "Miss LaFume" [sic] served to alert home viewers what to scratch and when to sniff. In Miami/Fort Lauderdale , it got a lot of press when WCIX (Channel 6) (Miami/Fort Lauderdale) offered it Saturday 13 September 1986 as it did likewise in San Francisco when it wafted its way thru the fog on Wednesday 19 November 1986 on KOFY (Channel 20); the Examiner TV critic, Michael Dougan, commented "Smell-O-Vision will make you sorry you were born with a nose."

The success of the syndicated nationwide 1986 telecasts of Scent of Mystery, with scratch-and-sniff cards provided by 7-Eleven, continued to build as the year progressed, with ratings high, and independent stations always on the scent of offbeat material to attract viewers away from the more traditional network shows. When a number flashed on the screen, home sniffers were instructed to scratch the corresponding number on their cards, and take a whiff. Who could resist a gimmick like that? Among the 30 different odors were rose, licorice, pipe tobacco, popcorn, garlic, gasoline, peaches, mothballs, and, of course, the title perfume, i.e. Scent of Mystery. In Honolulu, after two weeks of non-stop promotion and comment, it made its "Island Premiere" on KGMB (Channel 9), and its rival network ratings were wiped out by hurricane force. By this time local commentators were resigned to admitting, "Sure, it stinks, but it's fun!" By 21 November 1987, its popularity had peaked to the point of it being offered in the competitive Saturday night 10 PM slot on the wildly trendy MTV music video channel. After that, it once again, faded away into history.

User reviews

CopamHuk

I was at the premiere in Hollywood (1960) - A first-date thing ......

Didn't know what to expect .. but the pipe tobacco and peach smells (among SEVERAL more) were astounding! Each time you smelled the perfume... you KNEW something bad was going to happen! .....

I don't know how they did it, maybe a hose or fan mounted on the seat in front of you, but when the scene changed, the smell did too !! NEET!

If I remember correctly, the program LISTED all the smells you would encounter during the film as well.

Needless to say, the food smells probably helped the concession stand because the lines were a mile long !!

My date was NOT impressed... (should have made her buy popcorn!)

Too bad, This film followed the 3-D craze and is now gone.

Heraly

I love the IMDb. Where else can you get people commenting on a film they clearly haven't seen in the way it was first exhibited. Only one commenter claims to have seen it. The others saw a seventy-minute butchered version taped with a video camera aimed at a seventy-millimeter movie screen which is the ONLY time it ever aired on TV (in other words, it was never "sold" to TV). Scent of Mystery was a true oddity, but one I adored. The camera-work and sound recording were unbelievably brilliant, and the film was a lark. The smells were dispensed to each seat via a tube and by the time of the LA run they'd figured out how to "clean" the air between smells and it worked very well. As to Holiday in Spain, here we have people making comments when they clearly know not of what they speak. When Scent flopped big-time, it was sold to the Cinerama corporation. The film was converted into three-panel Cinerama, cut by twenty-five minutes (making its plot completely incoherent - of course, this is the version people are commenting on - well, not exactly - their commenting on the shortened version which was further shortened for its one-time TV showing), narration by Elliot was added (terrible), and the intermission point, which in the original was sublime, was moved up by twenty minutes and made no sense at all. Given that all but one of the commentators here have only seen the dreck that they showed on TV (completely faded print and missing sixty percent of its image), well, I find it a bit galling. The Todd AO image was and is stunning, the director of the film was the great cameraman, Jack Cardiff. And the sound - amazing eight track Todd-Belock sound system which, to my mind, has never been bettered. Not by Dolby, not by DTS, not by anything. And, just in case you think my memory may be faulty, I have just this day watched a seventy-millimeter print of the film, the shortened (but not as short as TV) Holiday in Spain - and that sound blew me away.

So, at this time, Scent Of Mystery is a lost film. It's never even been printed down to 35mm. It is uncertain whether any 70mm elements survive for the uncut Scent - there are 70mm elements (and even YCMs) for Holiday in Spain. If the uncut neg can be found, I am here to tell you there are plans afoot for a DVD.

Zaryagan

Sent Of Mystery is not a bad film, though basically the answer to a trivia question it's still fun.

Over the years there had been various attempts at filling a movie theater with smells linked to the film being shown. Around 1915, a silent exhibitor distributed a tinted newsreel of the Rose Parade that came with Flit guns of rose sent so that the theater ushers could walk the isles pumping perfume while the film was being shown. In 1940, the Clark Gable & Spencer Tracy vehicle `Boom Town' subjected certain unfortunate audiences to the smell of crude oil pumped into the theater's ventilation system. This went over so poorly, that nobody tried anything like for years.

The `Smell-o-vision' used in Sent Of Mystery was an elaborate system that had vials of several scents within a rotating drum beside each theater seat. These drums were rotated on silent cues actually recorded onto the film's magnetic soundtrack. Each sent was puffed at the patron via compressed air, and in the system's real innovation, each sent was then nullified by another puff of fresh air when the scene was over. It was an elaborate gimmick that would have made Mike Todd Sr. or William Castle proud. In the film, it was used to great affect to identify the killer with a particular kind of pipe tobacco and at the climax the audience is were alerted to his presence before he is seen on screen! Unfortunately this crucial scene is meaningless without the scent and one is left to wonder how the hero is able to identify him, but at least the film does have a fun cameo by Liz Taylor at the end.

Scent Of Mystery later went into wider release under the more pedestrian title of `Holiday In Spain', and under that name it was eventually sold to TV. Around 1983 the film surfaced again when it aired in several US cities and on MTV as part of a cross-promotion with 7-11 convenience stores, which was when I saw it. The 7-11 stores sold a package containing coupons and a foldout card that came with a sheet of scratch-n-sniff decals. As broadcast, the film's `scent points' were marked with a flashing number at the bottom of the screen, which was the viewer's cue to peel & paste the corresponding decal onto their card, which was decorated with images from the film that could be followed like a board game. This included the peach blossoms, the cask of wine, the cooking onions, and the distinctive tobacco. Unfortunately, this broadcast gimmick blew the films surprise by making it more like the `Odorama' used in John Waters' `Polyester.'

Other than the aforementioned John Waters film, the only other use of scented cinema that I'm aware of in recent years is in an attraction at Disney's California Adventure theme park. Those experiencing the Omni-max film `Sorin' Over California' experience a pine scent as they `fly' over the Sierra forests and an orange scent as they `glide' over orchards of the Central Valley. It seems the `Smellies' are just one of those ideas that will never catch on.

Rare

There was a race to get smells into films at this time. It was won by the Walter Reade organisation in late 1959 with a documentary called "Behind The Great Wall", which added smells after the film was completed, in a process called aromarama. "scent of Mystery" was produced by Mike Todd Jr. in 70mm, with the smells to be used as clues to the mystery. It was a lighthearted romp, beautifully shot in Spain, with Elizabeth Taylor as a guest star. It has never been revived, or put out on video.

Goldcrusher

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.

fabscf

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

Wishamac

Mostly when people discuss this film they get sidetracked by the Smell-O-Vision aspect. It was made at a time when there was a lot of experimentation with the technology of film making. In the decade previously they had tried 3-D and Cinerama, so adding aromas to film didn't seem that far out of bounds. The technology really wasn't ready as yet and the film, "Scent of Mystery", wasn't good enough to stand on its own. The story was silly and the dialog was stupid. The original film no longer exists as such. Another film called "Holiday in Spain" was cobbled together from pieces of various prints. Some say, therefore, you can't judge the original by the copy. However, the copy does have a strongly coherent narrative flow. It's the original that was stupid. The actors were competent professionals and there is the occasional clever line, but there is a certain amount of embarrassment in watching talent going to waste. There is an inside showbiz secret society feel to it. It's Elizabeth Taylor and her then husband Eddie Fisher working with Mike Todd, Jr. trying to salvage the botched job his father had done. By the way, what I said earlier about the addition of aromas to dramatic entertainment, watch what happens when V. R. adds story lines and acting. They are already adding tactility to V. R. Can odor be far behind?

Blackseeker

I had seen the restored previews on you tube.I had presumed one day that flicker alley was going to release it ,once they ran out of three panel classics.I Was wrong It was released on Nov. last year from Redwind productions ,distributed exclusively by screen archive dot com. I found this out last month.I also found out that flicker alley is not going to stop selling Cinerama films ,but, this had nothing to do with them.It was Cinerama's decision ,probably. This is the 109 minute version,When It was sold to Cinema miracle and when that went out of business sold to Cinerama ,it enlarged and slice and diced.The first story plot film to be projected in Cinerama.This was not combo DVD and Blu-Ray.Which was not fair for those with d.v.d players.It had a CD disc of the original L.p. sound track. It came with a pamphlet that explained the making of the film and all the actors.It also showed that Diana Dors was not a bimbo ,when you learned she did stage work also and a t.v. show in England The print was excellent.David Strohmaier did a great job restring with what they found,the 123 minute version is lost except for some fragments of the other film.It was originally in Smell-O-Vision ,but, every time a cue scent for a smell would com up ,I would get dizzy cause my nose was feeling compelled to smell a sensation that was not their .In spite of the lack of odors, the story was still good.Denholm Elliot plays the writer on vacation in Spain.He ends up getting involved with Beverly Bentley,when he is in a car wreck cause by a truck that was trying to knock her down. Liam Redmond tells Elliot the situation.With the aid of Peter Lorre as the taxi driver ,they track her down to save her from those who are going to kill her.The location in Spain were wonderful and the 70mm cinematography was great.This was not Todd a.o. process, but a different 70mm process.Vincent Korda did the production design .He built a fake hotel room,on the roof of a real hotel,for the effect of the 70mm cinema photography .There's an intermission and a surprised ending.The stereo sound was great to .It was originally eight tracks stereo sound.It would be reduce for the Cinerama convert 7 tracks .There's an interview with Beverly Bentley,years later, as well as Mike Todd j.r daughter,who was born the same year I was .Thank goodness this was in smile box.02/6/15

Voodoolkree

This is very silly and should not under any circumstances be taken seriously. Any attempt to not follow that advice will lead into the inevitable result of you not liking the movie at all. Actually of you dreading the movie. And it's comedy might be considered poor taste, it's acting poor too.

But it is silly and simple for a reason and it stays true to that formula til the end (even if it has hits and misses throughout). The main character with his conviction of knowing more than he actually does helps the movie a lot. Also Mr. Lorre in a role that we are not used seeing him, is great too. All in all, a crime comedy, that might not be something to really recommend ... But still funny to watch

Dark_Sun

I have been tempted by the Belock/Everest Records/Todd AO link up in terms of LPs, Around the World in Eighty Days, and highlights from Mike Todd's Broadway shows and the Night in Venice, where I think one part of it was filmed in Todd AO. You can hear the front 5 channel sound compressed into remarkable standard 2 channel stereo on the 80 Days LP.

I know the 6 channel Todd AO sound was Westrex and entirely independent of Belock recording but the later development of 8 channels held the possibility of rear stereo effects, the 6 channel format having mono rear sound, but in this case of smello vision one of these channels was also used to steer the scent effects.

I have spotted a Scent of Mystery soundtrack LP from Everest Records and wonder whether it is worth getting in terms of quality of the music on this film.

This may have been a cinematic dead end. But the real bad thing that happened was the tragedy of Mike Todd's premature death in that plane accident.

This is a most interesting discussion and I thank the others for their helpful comments, especially the guy who speaks from first hand experience and who commented on the great sound...that's why I am curious about whether it supplied rear stereo and what the prospects of the LP. I imagine this all predates any form of dolby encoding so the notion of being able to extract a pro logic surround sound from a two track stereo source did not exist.

Akisame

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.

Xarcondre

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.

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