Since the birth of the movie business at the beginning of this century, there have been a number of very strange films, but probably none stranger than two American movies that appeared around 20 years ago. Both films had not only pictures and sound, but smell too!
The first to appear was Behind the Great Wall, a movie about China that premiered in 1959. The film featured “Aroma-Rama”, a process which sent smells into the theater along with the film. When a rose was shown on the screen, the smell of a rose was pumped into the theater.
The second film was Scent of Mystery, which appeared in 1960. This film had “Smell-O-Vision”, a process which pumped aromas into the theater through vents behind each seat.
But neither of these “smelly” films was very popular, and although Polyester in 1981 tried to revive smells, this time by having the audience scratch a numbered square on a piece of cardboard to release a scent, none of these films left a long- lasting impression on movie-goers.
