Quest for Love | |
---|---|
Directed by | Ralph Thomas |
Written by | Terence Feely |
Based on | Random Quest by John Wyndham |
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 |
Release date |
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Running time | 91 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. [1] It was written by Terence Feely based on the 1954 short story Random Quest by John Wyndham.
Physicist Colin Trafford stages a demonstration of a particle accelerator to a number of people, including Sir Henry Larnstein and Colin's long-time friend Tom Lewis. The demonstration goes wrong and Colin (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, Leslie Howard did not die in the Second World War because it never happened, and no one ever succeeded in climbing to the peak of Mount Everest. Colin also discovers that he is a famous author, an alcoholic, and a womaniser with a beautiful wife, Ottilie. Colin instantly falls in love with Ottilie, whereas his parallel self was constantly unfaithful to her and she is on the brink of divorcing him.
With the help of Sir Henry and the physical evidence of the absence of a childhood scar, Ottilie accepts that this 'new' Colin is not the same man she had originally fallen in love with and married. The couple fall in love once again, but Colin then discovers that Ottilie has a terminal heart condition that is incurable in that world. Very soon she dies in Colin's arms. At that instant he regains consciousness in a hospital bed in his original reality, where he has been for three weeks since the accident. He determines to track down Ottilie's alter ego and finds her just in time to get her to hospital for treatment of her ailment. As she recovers, Colin goes to visit her with a bunch of her favourite flowers and introduces himself.
John Wyndham's story had been adapted on television on BBC2 as an episode of Out of the Unknown in 1969. It starred Keith Barron and Tracy Reed. Film rights went to Peter Rodgers, who produced the Carry On series for the Rank Organisation and had made an arrangement to produce "thriller and romantic subject" films for them. [2]
Filming took place under the working title Quest starting October 1970 at Pinewood Studios and on location in Buckinghamshire. [3]
Joan Collins said that, out of her entire career, she was proudest of her performances in the TV series Dynasty , and the films Decadence (1994) and Quest for Love. [4]
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Science fiction and films go well together, and at first this one promises to fit well into a long tradition. Tom Bell nicely registers the hero's incredulous perplexity as he discovers that Everest is still unconquered and that a taxi fare to Watford is twelve shillings (60p or 1500 yen), getting understandably if obnoxiously drunk at a first-night party and blundering into a series of disastrous faux pas with former mistresses whom he does not recognise. But after this often funny introductory half-hour, the film slows down to dwell on pedantic dialogue and loud, emphatic music, a death scene on a piano stool and a ludicrous chase around Heathrow airport. The imaginative possibilities of the situation (taken from a short story by John Wyndham) are ignored, and the romantic adventure which remains is never sharp enough to compel our interest." [5]
The Guardian called it "not much good ... though far from objectionable." [6]
The Evening Standard said: "blethering romantic rubbish." [7]
TV Guide called the film "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." [8]
Time Out rated the film "puerile sci-fi romance." [9]
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." [10]
John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris was an English science fiction writer best known for his works published under the pen name John Wyndham, although he also used other combinations of his names, such as John Beynon and Lucas Parkes. Some of his works were set in post-apocalyptic landscapes. His best known works include The Day of the Triffids (1951), filmed in 1962, and The Midwich Cuckoos (1957), which was filmed in 1960 as Village of the Damned, in 1995 under the same title, and again in 2022 in Sky Max under its original title.
Dame Joan Henrietta Collins is an English actress, author and columnist. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, a People's Choice Award, two Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. In 1983, Collins was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She has been recognised for her philanthropy, particularly her advocacy towards causes relating to children, which has earned her many honours. In 2015, she was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II for her charitable services, presented to her by the then Prince of Wales.
Joan Geraldine Bennett was an American stage, film, and television actress, one of three acting sisters from a show-business family. Beginning her career on the stage, Bennett appeared in more than 70 films from the era of silent films, well into the sound era. She is best remembered for her film noir femme fatale roles in director Fritz Lang's films—including Man Hunt (1941), The Woman in the Window (1944), and Scarlet Street (1945)—and for her television role as matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard in the gothic 1960s soap opera Dark Shadows, for which she received an Emmy nomination in 1968.
Jacqueline Jill Collins was an English romance novelist and actress. She moved to Los Angeles in 1985 and spent most of her career there. She wrote 32 novels, all of which appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list. Her books have sold more than 500 million copies and have been translated into 40 languages. Eight of her novels have been adapted for the screen, either as films or television miniseries. She was the younger sister of Dame Joan Collins.
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"Random Quest" is a science fiction novelette, which is also a love story, by British writer John Wyndham. It was included in his 1961 collection Consider Her Ways and Others. It has been dramatised three times, twice under its original name and once as Quest for Love.
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Jump for Glory is a 1937 British crime romantic drama film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Valerie Hobson and Alan Hale. It was based on a novel by Gordon McDonnell. The film was shot at Isleworth Studios by the independent company Criterion Film for distribution by United Artists. The film's sets were designed by the art director Edward Carrick.
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