Studio: A Michael Todd, Jr. Release
Running time: Scent of Mystery (125 minutes plus intermission), Holiday in Spain (109 minutes)
Scent of Mystery/Holiday in Spain (1960)
“A mystery novelist, Denholm Elliott, discovers a plan to murder an American heiress, Beverly Bentley, while on vacation in Spain. He enlists the help of a local taxi driver, Peter Lorre, to travel across the Spanish countryside in order to thwart the conspiracy. Directed by Oscar winning cinematographer-turned director Jack Cardiff, it made for solid entertainment. It also features a major star cameo, in a role critical to the film’s ending. The screenplay was adapted from the 1947 novel ‘Ghost of a Chance’ by husband and wife mystery writers Audrey Kelley and William Roos.” [From the Blu-ray]
Cast
Oliver Larker: Denholm Elliott
Smiley: Peter Lorre
The Decoy Sally: Beverly Bentley
Baron Saradin: Paul Lukas
Johnny Gin: Liam Redmond
Tommy Kennedy: Leo McKern
Fleming: Peter Arne
Winifred Jordan: Diana Dors
Margharita: Mary Laura Wood
Miss Leonard: Judith Furse
Pepi: Maurice Marsac
Englishman: Michael Trubshawe
Trucker Driver: Juan Olaguivel
Constance Walker: Billie Miller
The Real Sally Kennedy: Elizabeth Taylor
Crew
Director: Jack Cardiff
Producer: Michael Todd, Jr.
Screenwriter: William Roos
Based on an Original Story by: Kelley Roos
Additional Situations: Gerald Kersh
Associate Producer and Technical Supervisor: Ned Mann
Cinematographer: John Von Kotze
Production Supervisor and Art Director: Vincent Korda
Special Effects: Cliff Richardson
Second Unit Photography: John Drake
Musical Score: Mario Nascimbene
Additional Music: Jordan Ramin and Harold Adamson
Editor: James Newscom
Costumes: Charles Simminger
Did You Know?
Elizabeth’s surprise cameo in the film was credited as Liz Rolyat (Taylor spelled backwards). To pull off the surprise, her name and likeness wasn’t connected with the marketing of the film.
Thirty different scents, ranging from the “faint smell of a yellow rose” to the “heavy oriental incense of an ancient mosque,” were released at key points in the film to help the audience solve the mystery. It was later reissued in Cinerama (without the scents) under the title Holiday in Spain, and it’s this version that was reconstructed and released on Blu-ray.
The Premiere
Elizabeth and Eddie Fisher attended the New York premiere of Scent of Mystery on February 18, 1960.
