In an era when contact with mainland China was next to nothing, any film showing scenes from the People's Republic was worth seeing. In 1959, the shots of the Great Wall itself, the rolling green hills beyond it, harbors, temples, flower gardens, and cityscapes were all enhanced by an idiosyncratic, fleeting experiment in cinematic insanity: Aroma-Rama. Yes. A theater in Manhattan had special fragrance-producing substances hooked up to the air conditioning system. So when the flower gardens or temples are shown, jasmin or incense fills the air around the audience. Harbor smells and the smells of grazing lands offer different olfactory experiences too. The consensus was, in the end, that smelling a film just cannot make up for good direction, good acting, and good cinematography. However, for awhile the technique gave new meaning to the phrase, "this film stinks."
by Eleanor Mannikka
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