Quest for Love (1971 film)
| Quest for Love | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Ralph Thomas |
| Written by | Terence Feely |
| Produced by | Peter Eton executive Peter Rogers |
| Starring | Joan Collins Tom Bell Denholm Elliott Laurence Naismith |
| Cinematography | Ernest Steward |
| Edited by | Roy Watts |
| Music by | Eric Rogers |
Production company | Peter Rogers Productions |
| Distributed by | J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors (United Kingdom) |
Release date | 9 September 1971 (London) (UK) |
Running time | 87 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Quest for Love is a 1971 British romantic science fiction drama film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Joan Collins, Tom Bell and Denholm Elliott. It is based on the 1954 short story Random Quest by John Wyndham.[1]
Plot
Physicist Colin Trafford stages a demonstration with a particle accelerator to a number of people, including Sir Henry Larnstein and Trafford's long-time friend Tom Lewis.
The demonstration goes wrong and Trafford, with his same memories, finds himself in a parallel universe with significant differences from our own: John F. Kennedy is Secretary General of a still-existent League of Nations and Leslie Howard did not die in World War II because it and the Vietnam War never happened.
Trafford also discovers he is a famous author, an alcoholic, and a womaniser with a beautiful wife, Ottilie. Trafford instantly falls in love with Ottilie, even though his parallel self never liked her.
Eventually, with the help of Sir Henry and the physical evidence of an absent childhood scar, Ottilie accepts that Trafford is a doppelganger for the man she married.
The couple fall in love once again, but Trafford discovers Ottilie has a terminal heart condition incurable in that world and she dies by Colin's side.
Later, he is returned to his original reality, where he tracks down the alter ego of Ottilie and tries to get her to go to hospital.
Cast
- Joan Collins - Ottilie / Tracy Fletcher
- Tom Bell - Colin Trafford
- Denholm Elliott - Tom Lewis
- Laurence Naismith - Sir Henry Larnstein
- Lyn Ashley - Jennifer
- Juliet Harmer - Geraldine Lambert
- Neil McCallum - Jimmy
- Geraldine Gardner - Sylvia
- Jeremy Child - Dougie Raynes
- Ray McAnally - Jack Kahn
- Dudley Foster - Grimshaw
- Geraldine Moffat - Stella
- Simon Ward - Jeremy
- David Weston - Johnny Prescott
- Drewe Henley - Man
- Edward Cast - Jenkins
- John Hallam - Jonathan Keene
- Angus MacKay - Dr. Rankin
- Bernard Horsfall - Telford
- Philip Stone - Mason
- Sam Kydd - Taximan
Production
Joan Collins signed in November 1970. The film was originally called Quest.[2]
Critical reception
TV Guide noted, "an unusual science fiction tale that doesn't completely work but does hold interest...The story gets complicated, but the direction juggles the separate worlds without much trouble. Bell's performance makes this project work. He's believable and earnest and brings it off with a guiding clarity";[3] while Time Out called the film "puerile sci-fi romance";[4] but DVD Talk wrote, "a surprisingly effective romance with just the barest sci-fi framework...it succeeds in large part due to the two leads' believable underplaying. Bell is on the right note from the beginning of the film, never overplaying his hand...Collins, whom too many people know only from TV's Dynasty, is simply wonderful here, creating a fully-dimensional character."[5]
Legacy
Joan Collins later said that, out of her entire career, she was proudest of her performances in the TV series Dynasty, and the films Decadence and Quest for Love.[6]
References
- ^ QUEST FOR LOVE (1971), BFI
- ^ MOVIE CALL SHEET: Raquel to Star in 'Nitro' Martin, Betty. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 04 Nov 1970: i12.
- ^ "Quest For Love". TV Guide.
- ^ "Quest for Love". Time Out London.
- ^ "Quest For Love (1971)". DVD Talk.
- ^ Interview with Joan Collins
External links
- Quest for Love at IMDb
- Quest for Love at BFI
- Quest for Love at Britmovie
