Scent of Mystery, which is also known as Holiday in Spain.
Stars Denholm Elliott and the talented but mysterious Peter Lorre. at the beginning, the card tells us we're going to see the original Smilebox version. wikipedia dot org shows us that this is a curved version of letterbox filming, where the camera tries to show things from the viewers point of view, curving around the viewer. then we spend a lot of time, as the butterfly flies over Spain. Elliott is "Larker", the writer who has created mystery stories about his private eye. and Lorre is his taxi driver. i guess because he's a mystery writer, he thinks he is caught up in a local incident, and they drive all over Spain following Mrs. Jordan (Beverly Bentley, who was married to writer Norman Mailer). and of course, we end up in Pamplona, during the running of the bulls. at one point, Peter Lorre even jokes about being in Casablanca years ago, stealing someone's wife. it kinds of plods along, as the story and the taxi tires go flat. a couple plot twists and turns, as Larker tries to help save the attractive young lady. Directed by Jack Cardiff, who won for Black Narcissus. and one of only three films produced by Mike Todd junior. (his dad, Todd senior had invented several filming techniques, before passing away a couple years back. and was married to Liz Taylor.) this adventure is like a slow, low-budget north by northwest. The best part of this film is the scenery! beautiful mountains, castles, views of Spain.
Review of Scent of Mystery
