Smell-O-Vision(c.1938–1960)

Created by Hans E. Laube (1900–1976), a Swiss inventor, engineer, and osmologist (a specialist in the scientific study of smells and odors), Smell-O-Vision was designed to give the film viewer the most personal, immersive “life-like” cinema experience possible by synchronizing the release of scents into the theater to correspond with selected actions on screen. His daughter Carmen Laube recalled: “He believed everything on this earth, even emotions, have a scent… Hans loved cars and loved to race. It was a challenge. He loved challenges. He outworked people half his age – his passion for whatever was in front of his workspace drove him to the max” (Laube, 2016). Laube envisioned scents for use not only for films, but in broadcast TV, closed circuit television, department stores, train and bus stations, hotel lobbies, and personal home use.

Laube spent over 40 years trying to realize his greatest passion: bringing scents to cinema.

His first attempt at melding the olfactory with the visual in cinema was the film Mein Traum (My Dream, 1939), the name of a popular perfume at that time. Laube, collaborating with engineer Robert Barth, coordinated the use of scents for this hour-long film. It was produced by Pro Film and commissioned by the Swiss National Tourist Office for the Swiss Pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair. Released first in Bern, Switzerland on December 2, 1939, as the first “Odorated Talking Picture”, it was shot in 35mm (B/W, sound with English dialogue) and screened in New York in 1940 under the banner of “Scentovision”. Considered a novelty, the system did not secure funding to continue development and Laube, who accompanied the film and set up the Scentovision equipment, returned to Switzerland in 1946. Laube worked alone on a second attempt to bring scents to cinema in 1955 in partnership with the Stanley Warner Corporation, an American theater circuit formed in 1952. A 15-minute test film, The Language of Nature (1955), screened at the Cinerama-Warner Theatre in New York City on May 12, 1955, for prospective investors: 

The Scentovison film to be used for the demonstration is 16mm, approximately 400 feet in length and about 15 minutes duration. The 17 scent scenes are not arranged in any particular order, but rather to show the contrast of the different scents …The Master generating Unit is located about 200 feet away from the projector and works fully automatic from Impulses on the film …The 25 seats marked with tape and spread over 5 rows have been equipped for Scentovision. The seats have been selected in the orchestra for the following reasons:

1. The seats must be relatively close to the screen, because of the size of the 16mm picture.
2. The master feedline being on the left side of the house, the left section of the orchestra has been used. All of our tests have had to be conducted between shows and therefore the easiest and fastest installation had to be considered. (Hans E. Laube Collection)

This demonstration failed to generate the financial backing required to put Scentovision in movie theaters across America. However, Laube’s efforts were noticed by theater and film producers Michael Todd, Sr. (Around the World in Eighty Days, 1956), and his equally talented son, Michael Todd, Jr. (who directed the rollercoaster sequence for This is Cinerama, 1952). Todd, Jr.’s daughter Susan Jane Todd has said that her father (at age 9) and her grandfather witnessed the Mein Traum presentation at the New York World’s Fair in 1940 (Todd, Sr. produced six different stage programs for the midway). They may also have been present for The Language of Nature demonstration film in 1955. According to Bill Doll, Todd, Sr.’s longtime publicist, the producer had toyed with the idea of adding scents to film for over 15 years. By 1950, “the Todds were actively conducting experiments, along with a crew of technicians, in a deserted Long Island theatre” (“Scent of Mystery”, Souvenir Program, 1960). Todd had considered using it for both the first Cinerama feature, This is Cinerama, and then for Around the World in Eighty Days, but the system was not ready for either film. Todd, Sr. had contacted Hans Laube for his (now rebranded) Smell-O-Vision technology and was apparently planning what became Scent of Mystery (1960), when he died in a plane crash on March 22, 1958. Todd, Jr. inherited leadership of The Todd Company, and signed an agreement with Laube on October 10, 1958, in which they partnered to create what became the only feature film made with the Smell-O-Vision process: Scent of Mystery. Scent of Mystery ran 125 minutes with an intermission, and was followed by A Tale of Old Whiff (1960), a 70mm cartoon that also employed the Smell-O-Vision process. 

Todd, Jr, was aiming for the premiere of Scent of Mystery at his Chicago Cinestage Theatre not later than December 22, 1959. He was keenly aware that the competitor company Aromarama was also planning to release its system at approximately the same time. A second agreement with Laube dated October 24, 1959, states:

You are also aware of our numerous oral and written complaints to Scentovision, Inc. about its failures to meet scheduled dates, to perfect the Scentovision process and process apparatus and, in general, to perform its obligations in accordance with the terms of our agreement of October 10, 1958, which have been due, you have informed us, to the lack of adequate cooperation and assistance by Scentovision, Inc. to you. (Hans E. Laube Collection).

The contract re-set financial terms between Laube and Todd and the work continued. 

Scent of Mystery met all of Todd, Jr.’s desired criteria for a cinematic event: foreign locations, name actors, and especially, the introduction of aromas at pivotal moments in the story to enhance the viewing experience and cue the audience to various characters and plot points. It was filmed in his father’s 70mm Todd-AO widescreen format, the patent of which was now owned by Todd, Sr.’s widow, Elizabeth Taylor. He also persuaded his stepmother to make an uncredited cameo appearance, and the title song was sung by Taylor’s new husband, Eddie Fisher, also uncredited. 

Scent of Mystery is a colorful, funny, action-filled adventure, directed by Jack Cardiff, and featuring a cast of international actors led by Denholm Elliott, Peter Lorre, Paul Lucas, Diana Dors and Leo McKern. Elliott and Lorre are inadvertently drawn together trying to protect a mysterious young woman. They proceed to crisscross the majestic Spanish countryside, visiting just about every major historic city and locale. No sets were built for this production; Todd and his creative staff utilized only actual locations. Thus, when passing a bakery, or barrels of wine mysteriously crash down a street, or the characters pass a garden of roses, the theater filled with the scents of baking bread, the cool pungency of a wine cellar, the faint smell of a yellow rose, or tobacco smoke (a clue to the villain’s identity). Scent of Mystery’s accompanying program (it included a record of the title song) listed the 30 scents used throughout the film. These correspond almost perfectly with a list of 35 scents prepared by Laube and located in the Hans E. Laube Collection at the George Eastman Museum.

There were only three known commercial runs of the complete Smell-O-Vision version of Scent of Mystery: the film opened at Todd’s own Cinestage Theatre in Chicago on January 6, 1960, with subsequent openings at the Fox Ritz Theatre in Los Angeles on January 25, and at the Warner Theatre in New York City on February 18, 1960. In each case, reviews were mixed. Bosley Crowther’s review in the New York Times of February 19, 1960, called the film: “…an artless, loose-jointed ‘chase’ picture set against some of the scenic beauties of Spain, which indeed, are the most attractive and rewarding compensations of the show” (Crowther, 1960). He lamented that when he saw the film at a press screening, the “Smell-O-Vision squirters weren’t at full blast, or his nasal apparatus was on the fritz.” With the exception of the scenery and an electric scene in a bull ring, he found the whole endeavor less than satisfying. In stark contrast, Variety’s review of January 13, 1960, from the Cinestage Theatre in Chicago, was overwhelmingly positive, praising the actors, the production values of the Todd-AO process, and reporting a split decision on the smell technology. Most enjoyed the experience. Some balcony viewers heard a hissing sound that accompanied each new aroma; some scents were mis-timed and often lingered in the air as the next one was released. But nonetheless, to that reviewer, and to much of the audience, Scent of Mystery was an enjoyable experience in the theater. The film received better reviews than those for the competing Aromarama system, used in Behind the Great Wall (1959). It premiered two months before Scent of Mystery debuted. However, the negative overwhelmed the positive, and investors lost interest. Scent of Mystery was soon sold to Cinerama, re-edited and re-packaged as Holiday in Spain and released later that year. 

According to David Strohmaier whose restoration of Holiday in Spain received wide praise in 2012, Scent of Mystery was cut from its original 125-minute running time (with one intermission) to 107 minutes and screened without the scents (Strohmaier, 2026). Strohmaier located only one scene from the original Scent of Mystery in the Todd-AO archives. No other footage of the film is believed to exist. That single scene was lost when the Todd-AO sound company emptied all the elements in its vaults after the facility was bought by Chace Audio and it needed the vault space. 

Producing the intimate experience of Smell-O-Vision was expensive and cumbersome. At $25,000 for the fragrance machine and piping installation, and theater tickets then costing one dollar, Smell-O-Vision was financially unmarketable. The failure of Scent of Mystery and Smell-O-Vision to secure wide release left both Todd and Laube in severe debt. Their daughters tell similar stories that the wealth of art, jewels and other belongings purchased during better times disappeared from their respective homes. Laube turned his interest to developing other technology for releasing scents through controlled means. His major project was Bestair, a small electronic device that released both fragrances and deodorizers into the air. It also failed and did not make it to commercial production. However, Bestair can claim to be the forerunner of today’s diverse air freshener systems that are available in stores worldwide. Laube’s groundbreaking research is cited today by osmologists and artists who are integrating scents into various interactive art exhibitions and online platforms.

On October 31, 1986, the re-edited Holiday in Spain was presented as Scent of Mystery and broadcast on MTV as an interactive evening for the whole family. It screened in conjunction with a promotion for the 7 Eleven chain of convenience stores. Official Clue Cards for Scent of Mystery in Scent-Sational Smell-O-Vision were available at $1.49 at 7 Elevens throughout the country. Cued with numbers for each scent, the viewer received a colorful numbered map, with scratch-n-sniff adhesive dots to attach along the numbered trail.

Renewed interest in Smell-O-Vision led to the restoration of Holiday in Spain. It was restored and digitally reconstructed in 2012 by film editor and Cinerama restoration specialist David Strohmaier. However, not enough footage from the original Scent of Mystery edit remained and therefore it was not restored.  In 2015, Australian film producer Tammy Burnstock joined with artist and scent creator Saskia Wilson-Brown and worked with Strohmaier to add scents to his restoration of Holiday in Spain. This version – a highly praised and hugely successful audience participation endeavor – screened at venues in Copenhagen, Denmark, Bradford, England and finally at the Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles. This grand finale was produced under the auspices of TCM (Turner Classic Movies). The only information about the scents used in Scent of Mystery is a list in the original book program that accompanied the film. Lacking knowledge of the original ingredients or chemical formulas, Wilson-Brown took an artistic leap and created the film's smells from scratch. Popcorn buckets containing programs, numbered atomizers, and folding fans were given to each audience member. Cueing the scents to numbers on the screen, audience members would spray their numbered atomizer scent to waft over sections of the cinema. Strohmaier, Burnstock and Wilson-Brown succeeded in creating a unique and highly enjoyable cinema experience honoring Hans Laube’s original conception for Smell-O-Vision. (Institute for Art and Olfaction, 2015).