What the Nose Knows - Avery Gilbert [78]
But it wasn’t just Laube’s efforts that gave Smell-O-Vision its edge. Many years later, Mike Todd Jr. credited his press agent Bill Doll with the idea of reversing the odor pump after each delivery to reduce lingering of previous smell. “Bill got this idea after the third opening. It was used, and it worked perfectly, but by that time the ship had sailed.”
Back in 1939, when he was promoting Odorated Talking Pictures, Hans Laube had said ten smells would suffice for a feature-length film, because more would be “too much for the public’s nose.” In his 1956 patent application, Laube increased the optimal number to between twelve and twenty. Scent of Mystery was released with thirty. In the competition to show off their new systems, both Todd and Reade had oversaturated their audience.
A QUESTION OF personality lingers over the battle of the smellies. Mike Todd Jr. had little of his father’s fire. He was polite and tentative. Anticipating ridicule, he adopted a tongue-in-cheek attitude toward Smell-O-Vision that signaled a lack of seriousness to critics and distributors. The movie critic Hollis Alpert Jr. found him “a somewhat timid revolutionist.”
The elder Todd took great pleasure in gambling on his own talents. According to his son, “He was at his best when the odds were against him and a show was in trouble and he needed to utilize all of his energy and ingenuity.” Todd senior was strongest late in the game. His contribution to a show began after rehearsals; he switched into top gear only during out-of-town preview performances. “He thought best on his feet, under pressure,” said his son. He was legendary for last-minute adjustments to shows and promotions that made winners out of questionable properties. And not least, he was a great motivator of other people: he knew how to drive technical wizards to produce workable, show-worthy effects.
One is tempted to ask: Would Smell-O-Vision have taken off if Michael Todd Sr. had lived? It is easy to imagine him pushing perfumers to the limit, stalking about the floor of the Cinestage before opening night to tweak the scent delivery. Todd senior’s showbiz sense would have kicked in; the film would have been snappier and the scent effects more polished. His genius for promotion would have taken flight—imagine him pushing Scent of Mystery perfume with the help of his glamorous movie star wife. He would have schmoozed the stuffy-nosed Bosley Crowther and his colleagues in the press. Above all, he would have reacted quickly to Reade’s tactics, and maybe played them to his advantage.
Hal Williamson says, “if we could have survived another couple of months probably, the fine-tuning could have been done. But at that point the critical and public reactions were such that Michael and Elizabeth decided not to keep going with it.”
Smell-O-Vision—its technology, its film, and its promoters—was a serious entertainment gamble, even if it was a long shot. AromaRama, in contrast, never had any legs at all. Technologically, business-wise, and aesthetically, it was a cynical rabbit punch of counterpromotion. Smell-O-Vision was more than a gimmick, but AromaRama was something less, a mean-spirited exploitation. Walter Reade ambushed Mike Todd Jr., then dogged his every turn. Temperamentally unsuited for the rough-and-tumble of