Vacationing Englishman Oliver Larker stumbles upon a plot to kill a young American tourist in Spain.Vacationing Englishman Oliver Larker stumbles upon a plot to kill a young American tourist in Spain.Vacationing Englishman Oliver Larker stumbles upon a plot to kill a young American tourist in Spain.
- Director
- Writers
- Kelley Roos(story)
- William Roos
- Stars
Top credits
- Director
- Writers
- Kelley Roos(story)
- William Roos
- Stars
Sandra Shahan
- Lady
- (uncredited)
Elizabeth Taylor
- The Woman of Mystery
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- Kelley Roos(story)
- William Roos
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis movie was shown in "Smell-O-Vision". The theater was equipped with a system that gave off various odors in sync with this movie. The opening scene involved a butterfly flitting through a rose garden, with accompanying delicious odors. Later on, a barrel of wine fell off of 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 Mystery (Dame Elizabeth Taylor), i.e. Scent of Mystery (sic) was a key element to the story, and involved in the climax of the mystery.
- GoofsVery little in this film makes sense (possibly because the version that currently exists was reconstructed from incomplete elements). Regardless, not even the central plot point is clear: who hired the impostor? If Tommy's wife knew Tommy's half-sister, why would she have someone impersonate the half-sister if she planned to kill the real one? Even if there was a reason, why would the wife's accomplices repeatedly attempt to kill someone who was merely trying to protect the impostor? Why not just allow them to waste their time "protecting" the impostor until the real deed was done? Alternatively, if Tommy hired the impostor to fool his wife, he would have had to know about the murder plot and chose to put an innocent woman's life at risk rather than alert the police (especially after the disappearance of the bellboy).
- Quotes
Oliver Larker: [narrating] I haven't been away from my flat in 9 years, and 6 mysteries. But, I suppose the creator of a private eye has to get out in public every so often. And I hate to travel - unless it's in the Commonwealth. Otherwise you meet so many foreigners, who don't even speak English. And all those beastly tourists - mostly Americans. They don't speak English either.
- Crazy creditsThere is a credit for the shoe polish brightening the cast's shoes.
- Alternate versionsIn the UK version of Holiday in Spain, Elizabeth Taylor is credited as Liz Rolyat, (Taylor spelled backwards).
- ConnectionsReferenced in What's My Line?: Peter Lorre (2) (1960)
Top review
The Best Of The "Smellies" (for what that's worth)
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.
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.
helpful•161
- brucebox
- Feb 13, 2001
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Michael Todd, Jr's Holiday in Spain
- Filming locations
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime2 hours 5 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 2.59 : 1
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