Recently I saw The Silence of the Lambs again. When I first saw the film, just after it came out, my fragrance wardrobe consisted of Chanel Coco and Victoria’s Secret Tranquil Breezes bubble bath. This time, more attuned to perfume references, I chilled as Hannibal Lector met Clarice Starling for the first time. Lector stood straight-backed, arms at his side, and stared at Clarice on the other side of the bars. His nostrils flared and he half-shut his eyes. “You wear L’Air du Temps,” he said. “But not today.” Brilliant.
When I watch movies these days, my eyes are often fixed on the background as I look for perfume. In Guess Who’s Coming for Dinner, two 16-ounce, houndstooth Christian Dior bottles sit on a shelf in the bathroom. I think one of them is Miss Dior. In Auntie Mame, the Rosalind Russell version, Mame gives her housekeeper a giant clock-shaped bottle of something Guerlain I suspect is Shalimar. Another mammoth bottle of Guerlain, this one looking to hold nearly a gallon of Mitsouko Eau de Cologne, adorns the background of an Italian movie. I can’t remember the plot at all, only the Mitsouko…
