Denholm Elliott having his own Indy-like adventures in 'Scent of Mystery'

indytim

Member
I discovered this trailer on YouTube for a 1960 adventure/mystery film called 'Scent of Mystery' starring Denholm Elliott, in which his character appears to be a hybrid of both Henry Jones Jnr and Srn.

He dons a fedora, use an umbrella for action and finds himself embroiled with a collection of characters seemingly worthy of an Indy movie.

You could almost believe this is a spin-off prequel to the Indy movies ... the Young Adventures of Marcus Brody!

From Wikipedia:

A mystery novelist, played by Denholm Elliott, discovers a plan to murder an American heiress, played by Elizabeth Taylor in an uncredited role, while on vacation in Spain. He enlists the help of a taxi driver, played by Peter Lorre, to travel across the Spanish countryside in order to thwart the crime. Some scenes were designed to highlight the Smell-O-Vision's capabilities. In one, wine casks fall off a wagon and roll down a hill, smashing against a wall, at which point a grape scent was released. Other scenes were accompanied by aromas that revealed key points to the audience. The assassin was identified by the smell of a smoking pipe, for example.

The screenplay was adapted from the 1947 novel Ghost of a Chance by Kelley Roos, the pen name of husband and wife mystery writers Audrey Kelley and William Roos. The novel was set in locations in New York City. Kelley Roos also wrote a 1959 paperback novelization of the screenplay, reset in Spain.

Scent of Mystery is a 1960 mystery film that featured the one and only use of Smell-O-Vision, a system that timed odors to points in the film's plot. It was the first film in which aromas were integral to the story, providing important details to the audience. It was produced by Mike Todd, Jr., who in conjunction with his father Mike Todd had produced such spectacles as This is Cinerama and Around the World in Eighty Days.

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Wow, that's awesome! I really could see that as one of Brody's early adventures he vaguely mantioned to Indy. Great find!
 

Darwin Jones

New member
Holiday in Spain Bluray

Recently I saw the movie in bluray format. The film has not a great argument, but worth seeing this adventure of Marcus Brody. The original version entitled "Scent of Mystery" was lost but the restored and remastered version called "Holiday in Spain" is not bad. There is a scene reminiscent Raiders : rolling barrels scene recalls the scene the stone-ball rolling behind Indy). Moreover, Denholm Elliot dresses like it did in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, even wears a leather-hung with binoculars. But there are other similarities with Last Crusade, Elliot takes an umbrella in most of the movie as Henry Jones Sr., and another similarity is that part of the locations scenery are in the same town: The town of Guadix (Granada, Spain, in LC was Iskenderun) appears in both films. Spielberg initially thought shoot inside monument Alhambra (Interior of the Palace of Hatay) like scenes that appear in Scent of Mystery. Finally, I do not want to spoil the plot of this movie, but there are similarities regarding the role of the female lead ...
Well, here's the link to this version...and it is limited to 2000 units!
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Holiday-in-Spain-Blu-ray/115504/
 

IndyJoey

Member
This looks really good!

And it really makes you think about Marcus saying

"You know, five years ago, I would have gone after it myself. I'm really rather envious."
 

WilliamBoyd8

Active member
The Cinerama film "Holiday in Spain" was run on the TCM cable channel recently and I was able to watch it.

If adventure has a name ...

post_movie_holidayinspain_01.jpg


The film is more of a comedy than any of the Indiana Jones films and is also a travel film of "scenic Spain".

There is also a lot of Indy-style cliff hanging.

At one point the hero finds a fedora lying on railroad tracks just after a train has passed by.

As a personal note, as I am a coin collector, I spotted a Franco-era Spanish 50 peseta coin which Denholm and another man flip to decide who gets to accompany the girl.

:)
 
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