Talk:Scent of Mystery

How It Worked - Sort of
I saw the film at the Cinestage theatre in Chicago. The odors were distrbuted by tubing running along the backs of the seats, so the scents were 'in your face', so to speak, rather than being released through the theatre's ventilating system.

Every time a scent was released, the viewer could hear the sound of the operating system, like air escaping from a tire.

In the basement of the theatre, where the rest rooms were located, was an walled-off area, enclosed by colorful plexiglass panels, that contained the machinery. On my visit, an elderly woman attendant was there, and her job was apparently to open envelopes of the scented powder (or liquid) into hoppers which were synchronized with the film to deliver the scents on cue. It didn't seem like a particularly sophisticated system.

The entire basement STUNK to high heaven! Not unpleasant but REALLY strong, like all of the scents combined.

After the feature's run, the tubing and the panelled area in the basement remained in place for several years, as if waiting patiently for the next 'Smellie', which, of course, never came.

Much later, the Cinestage and its twin theatre the Michael Todd were restored to their original appearance and their original names Selwyn and Harris respectively. During the remodelling, if not earlier, one assumes that the Smell-O-Vison equipment was removed.76.247.165.208 (talk) 14:00, 8 April 2010 (UTC)


 * If they used any tobacco element to get the "pipe" aroma, there could have been lawsuits once "secondary smoking" was recognized as dangerous! WHPratt (talk) 00:42, 25 August 2019 (UTC)