Parfum de mystère

Englishman Oliver Larker (Denholm Elliott) is on vacation in Spain. He doesn't speak the language. He hires taxi driver Smiley (Peter Lorre). He thinks that he has stumbled upon a murder attempt on an unknown blonde woman.

This movie apparently came with a few gimmicks. It had Smell-O-Vision system and shown in Cinerama. I just simply watched it on TCM. While it maintained the curved picture, the smells can't be transferred. It's still interesting to see Peter Lorre at the end of his career. It's also interesting to see old Spain. I love the locations and the real people. The best scene may be the running of the bulls and it's nothing more than a traffic jam to the story. It was probably interesting to have the smells. There is a lot of interesting stuff other than the main story. I would also prefer to have less narration. This is better as a travelog.

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

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.

Scent of Mystery, which is also known as Holiday in Spain. Stars Denholm Elliott and the talented but mysterious Peter Lorre. at the beginning, the card tells us we're going to see the original Smilebox version. wikipedia dot org shows us that this is a curved version of letterbox filming, where the camera tries to show things from the viewers point of view, curving around the viewer. then we spend a lot of time, as the butterfly flies over Spain. Elliott is "Larker", the writer who has created mystery stories about his private eye. and Lorre is his taxi driver. i guess because he's a mystery writer, he thinks he is caught up in a local incident, and they drive all over Spain following Mrs. Jordan (Beverly Bentley, who was married to writer Norman Mailer). and of course, we end up in Pamplona, during the running of the bulls. at one point, Peter Lorre even jokes about being in Casablanca years ago, stealing someone's wife. it kinds of plods along, as the story and the taxi tires go flat. a couple plot twists and turns, as Larker tries to help save the attractive young lady. Directed by Jack Cardiff, who won for Black Narcissus. and one of only three films produced by Mike Todd junior. (his dad, Todd senior had invented several filming techniques, before passing away a couple years back. and was married to Liz Taylor.) this adventure is like a slow, low-budget north by northwest. The best part of this film is the scenery! beautiful mountains, castles, views of Spain.

The cinematography is great, as expected with Jack Cardiff directing. A lot of the shots are ingenious. The story, or lack of a story, is terrible. Denholm Elliot, usually an engaging actor, walks through the film in a sleepy state looking like he's waiting for direction. I can't blame him for that. Peter Lorre is his taxi driver, at least in closeups, and his wisecracking guide. The Cinerama filming is a real treat for me. I've seen several roadshow movies in Cinerama including Ice Station Zebra. Diana Dors has a way too short bikini cameo. The film should have been built around Dors in that bikini. Elizabeth Taylor, wife of the producer, pops up at the end.