User Reviews

The genre of SF romances is pretty slim, and well done ones even slimmer still. The only two that leap immediately to mind are "Quest For Love" and "Late For Dinner". They both rank among my favorite films. For the romantically inclined, both are also worth at least two hankies (one reason I never watch either with anyone other than my wife).

Joan Collins looks superb (as usual) and gives an excellent, understated performance (hardly usual!) Rather than her typical shrew or strumpet (I'm trying hard to avoid adjectives that would violate the guidelines), she is a genuinely warm and sympathetic character. Aside from the voodoo that transports the protagonist into a parallel universe, the SF aspects are well constructed and don't overwhelm what is, at its core, a touching love story. The parallel universe plot is a much more effective metaphor in this case than the typical time travel gimmick common to most "what if" films such as this.

The pacing could be better and the script could have benefitted from one more revision, but it's still quite satisfying overall.

P.S. Apparently, like "Late For Dinner", "Quest For Love" is currently out of print on home video. I therefore feel fortunate to have both (QFL on Beta and LFD on VHS), so there are real official copies in existence which a diligent search might turn up.

I first saw this over twenty years ago and it stayed in my mind ever since; they never seemed to play this film on TV in my area and a VHS tape was difficult to find. I finally got one on E-Bay a year ago. I've always been a science fiction fan and my favorite sub-genre was parallel worlds. The original writer (Wyndham) and screenwriters got all the basics correct - certain events in the past transpired differently on this parallel Earth, resulting in a very similar, yet strikingly different world. But what caught me off guard was the romance attached to the story; I don't know, maybe the British storytellers just know how to do this sort of stuff better, but the tale taps into the soul of anyone with just a bit of the romantic in them. I never got that sense of romance, in such a strong dose, in any other film; the similar "Somewhere in Time" with Chris Reeve comes to mind, but it's not even a contest. When Joan Collins first walks into the room, I don't think you even need to be a heterosexual male - you are just swept away on the spot. Tom Bell is also very good as the hero; he sort of stumbles along on this fantastic journey he's been flung into and he soon embraces the entire cosmic appeal of what fate has given to him - a rare gift, as it turns out.

'Quest For Love' is an interesting oddity - a romance set in a parallel world. I haven't read the Wyndham story it's based on so I don't know how faithful it is, but it's an entertaining little movie with some nice performances. Tom Bell plays a physicist who suddenly finds himself in an alternate England after a scientific experiment. He learns that WW2 never happened, man never landed on the moon,etc. but the differences in this other England are never explored and mean little to plot. The focus is on Bell's relationship with Joan Collins. In his own world Bell is single and a scientist, in this other world he is a successful writer and married to Collins who despises him. Bell immediately falls in love with his "wife" and tries to convince her that he isn't who she thinks he is. Both Bell and Collins give good performances, and Collins looks absolutely lovely. Denholm Elliott appears in both worlds, one as his friend, in the other he loathes him. I assume the budget of this movie was modest. There are no special effects and it's almost like an episode of TV fantasy anthology. Even so I enjoyed it for what it was. If you want to watch a slightly earlier British movie with a similar premise try and see 'Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun' a.k.a. 'Doppelganger'. It however isn't a romance and is much bleaker. It's the stronger of the two movies but 'Quest For Love' is still worth watching, especially if you're a romantic.

An English Physicist (Tom Bell), testing an experimental nuclear accelerator, is transported across a parallel universe into a more peaceful but less technically advanced world. The staid physicist discovers that, in this world, he is a morally decadent playwright; and, more importantly, the physicist meets the woman of his dreams: his wife! (Joan Collins) The physicist immediately sets out to win back the affections of his wife; and, when he returns to our universe, to locate her again.

The performances are uniformly excellent. Joan Collins is one of the few actresses who plays "saints" and "vixens" with equal aplomb. Special kudos to Tom Bell for being convincingly "smitten" without being sappy.

Ironically, the film is least convincing in "our universe." The initial exposition is hurried, as are the closing sequences of the film. Considering the largely excellent writing (story credited to John Wyndham), the most likely explanation is a rushed shooting schedule, due to budget constraints. This is also apparent with the music, which seems to belong in a different movie.

The lack of special effects actually embellishes the story, until the physicist's "return." This occurs with no forshadowing, and seems more a plot device than an integral part of the tale. Effects would have gone a long way toward covering the holes in the story. (i.e., Why is a scientist so convinced what happened to him was real? Since HE was so different in the parallel world, why doesn't he fear SHE will be different?)

Still, with the imaginative writing and excellent performances make this worthy viewing, IF you can find it.

"Quest for love" came on local late night TV in Chicago a couple times in about 1977 and I've been looking for it ever since. Science fiction is far down the list of what I normally like but this one was special, probably because it was a relationship story that used a nearly believable SF conceit (parallel worlds) to create an absorbing dilemma. No aliens or spaceships, just an ordinary life that turns increasingly odd: a friend whose missing limb suddenly returns, a newspaper headline that says, "Kennedy elected to second term", and so on. It was intriguing for at least two reasons. One was Joan Collins, who is, well, stunning. Why anyone would cheat on her character is perhaps the film's greatest mystery. The other was that the parallel worlds idea takes a while to develop fully, and it drew me into the puzzle. I've not seen a parallel realities film since that I've liked as much. (By the way, I could swear there's a scene in "Back to the Future 2" where Doc is using a blackboard to explain this very concept to Marty, which is a lift from QFL.) In the end it's a film about a decent guy and his relationship problems; only, in his case, he's inherited them from his drunken, loutish other self.

I caught this on a local movie channel thinking it would be pretty hokey, but I found myself completely captivated to this fascinating science fiction romance. Joan Collins gives an unexpectedly delicate performance devoid of her usually campy mannerisms, and competent actors like Denholm Elliott appear in supporting roles. Although the ending does seem a bit abrupt, it's not bad enough to leave a negative impression.

Quest for Love is a science fiction romance set in an alternate world. Physicist Colin Trafford (Tom Bell) during an experiment is sent across an alternate Britain in the 1970s which has not gone through World War 2, there is no war in Vietnam, man has not gone to space or even conquered Everest.

Here Trafford is a noted but philandering playwright with a troubled marriage to former ballerina Ottilie (Joan Collins.) The new Trafford at first dazed and confused becomes immediately smitten with his wife and aims to woo her again but something is not right with her health. Trafford finds himself going back to his own world and tries to track down the same woman.

Tom Bell was known for playing intense even bitter characters, so it is nice to see him play tender and romantic, although we do get angry and perplexed in the early scenes. Bell is matched by Collins who plays the alluring wife married to a fickle man in a nicely understated but charming way.

The film loses a bit of impetus at the latter part of the film and also ends abruptly as if the budget ran out.

Once you get past the sappy title, this is a reasonably entertaining early 70's British fantasy drama. Watching it I was reminded of a contemporary film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Roger Moore, called "The Man Who Haunted Hinself", where another well-to-do Londoner has an identity crisis and runs about town trying to put his world back in order. In fact they'd have made for a good old-fashioned double-bill but the Moore feature is darker and much the better for it.

Adapted from a short story by sci-fi writer John "Day Of The Triffids" Wyndham, the film centres on scientist Tom Bell's character who after a laboratory experiment goes wrong, finds himself in a parallel 1971 world where while apparently peopled by the same inhabitants, there are subtle differences to its personnel whether famous or everyday. For example, JFK is still alive, Everest was never climbed and crucially for the plot, heart transplants have yet to be carried out. In this alternative London, he's a boozing, philandering if successful playwright, happy to overlook the obvious charms of his wife, an alluring Joan Collins, in favour of flings with whichever pretty young actress appears in his plays.

Once he gets his own bearings and by contacting the different world's equivalent of a fellow scientist from his own, establishes what has happened to him and how he might get back to his own time and place, he has a job to convince Collins who's on the verge of divorcing him due to his constant drunkenness and infidelities. As if all that wasn't enough she has a congenital heart condition which leaves him with the twin tasks of crossing worlds and racing against time to save her (at least in a way) before the end credits.

I love the premise of parallel worlds and all that but felt that it was barely touched here and focused too much on the romantic element in bringing together Bell and Collins. Brought in at under 90 minutes by veteran British director Ralph Thomas, the pacing seems rushed throughout, especially the ending and rather wastes the interesting opportunities opened up in the early scenes. Decent performances by Bell, Collins, and British stalwarts Laurence Naismith and Denholm Elliott in support and I enjoyed the vintage settings and fashions but for a better film of this type try to find the Moore movie mentioned above, which was one of the actor's own favourites of all those he made.

To my considerable annoyance, every time this movie has been shown on TV I haven't had my VCR ready to record. I've probably seen it about three or four times, on the proverbial rainy afternoons when little-regarded films are broadcast. It's been described by other IMDb reviewers as a sci-fi love story, and it certainly is that. But it's also a rare foray for a mainstream movie into counterfactual history. (In this respect it resembles novels such as Kingsley Amis's "The Alteration", Keith Roberts' "Pavane" and Robert Harris's "Fatherland" more than it resembles other movies.) Colin Bell, a physicist, finds himself in a parallel version of our world after an experiment that goes wrong. The Second World War has not happened, and in all kinds of subtle and intriguing ways society is less advanced. The course of his own life has been drastically different as well: he is a playwright and novelist, not a physicist; he attended Oxford (arts and humanities-based) not Cambridge (science-based); his best friend (played by Denholm Elliot) has not lost his arm in WW2; most significantly, while single in OUR world, he discovers that he is, albeit unfaithfully, married in this one.

I'll concede that the conclusion of the movie IS rushed, but the rest of it is so superbly executed that I'm prepared to overlook this. Of course not all of the implications of this bizarre scenario are investigated; how could they be in a 90-minute movie? I'd agree with the other IMDb reviewer, who remarked that OUR world is limned far less vividly than its doppelganger. But this is surely as it should be; after all, we KNOW our world.

The unanswered question that has nagged me every time I have seen the movie is: Where is the other Colin Trafford? Surely the arrogant, womanising drunk isn't on the loose in our world, wreaking havoc in the the domain of research physics? (I think we're meant to assume that he's temporarily inhabiting his double's comatose body in hospital.) What is highly ingenious, and could pass unnoticed, such is the subtlety of its handling, is the way in which, although we never actually see him, we infer from people's reactions exactly what sort of person the other Colin Trafford was. (I'm reminded of the scene in the original "Nutty Professor" in which Buddy Love is introduced; we see him, at first, entirely in terms of other people's reactions.)

We still seem to be too near to the 60s and 70s (psychologically if not chronologically) for people to overlook the now-quaint fashions. Come on, though! Even the 70s are thirty years ago now. We're not surprised to see people in Edwardian times, or the 1930s, dressed in radically different clothes. Why should it strike as odd (and funny) that people more than a generation ago inhabited a universe more different from ours than the one that physicist Colin Trafford finds himself in? Every time I read someone dismiss a movie because the fashions are dated I want to scream! Such a lack of historical perspective means that there's a very real danger that anyone much under 40 or so will not be able to observe the subtle, but very real, contrast between the "real" world in "Quest For Love", and its slightly more old-fashioned twin, and will thus miss out on an important layer of the movie's meaning.

There is a man out there with dangerous sideburns, who can also travel across to a parallel universe. Sounds unlikely?

Quest for Love isn't such a bad movie, in the sense it could be far worse. It's the story of a physicist who develops the technology to travel to a parallel universe where the same characters exist, but they have different lives. He turns out to be a brilliant novelist but a right swine to Ottile, his wife.

The story is OK. But the clothes, cars and interior decor is great. And check out Heathrow airport in the mid 1970's. It looks empty.

Intriguing sci-fi love story about a physicist (Tom Bell) who ends up in a parallel universe after a scientific experiment goes awry. At first, the film is a wonderful fish-out-of-water tale as Bell slowly realizes his predicament and reluctantly assumes the identity of his parallel counterpart Colin Trafford (an arrogant, much-maligned playwright). However, the tale gets even more complicated when Bell falls in love with Trafford's flamboyantly unhappy wife Ottile (Joan Collins in a surprisingly subtle performance).

Although the film's narrative often seems like a discarded plot from the daytime soap Dark Shadows, this is an inventive, well-written and (more importantly) splendidly acted drama. It's definitely worth a look if you happen to come across it.

I saw this film many years ago on a rainy Saturday afternoon. JOAN COLLINS is wonderful if you liked the "CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER" episode of the original STAR TREK and don't need special effects to enjoy a great story you will like this film. Unfortunately I have not been able to find it on T.V. since. It is not available on video. If anyone out there has a copy they made from broadcast on T.V. or knows when it will be on again please e-mail me. I am also interested in any similar time travel/fantasy type movies and have a small collection I am willing to share. Thank you.

A good take on parallel worlds, really enjoyed it.

Based on the John Wyndham story "Random Quest," and being the third and last Wyndham adaptation, following 1960's "Village of the Damned" and 1962's "The Day of the Triffids," this feature apparently tries to downplay its sci-fi origins, as its new title is a more fitting description considering how it plays out. A parallel universe where World War 2 never happened, Leslie Howard still lived in 1971, and John F. Kennedy went from the Presidency to heading up the UN. My initial disappointment in Tom Bell was quashed by repeat viewings, definitely far superior to Christopher Reeve's curiously unmoving "Somewhere in Time" (1980), whose time travel hook was poorly executed and never credible. While I certainly adored Jane Seymour in that film, she never had a real character to portray, unlike Joan Collins, who here gets to play a soft, romantic woman, as she was quite busy doing horror films then that cast her in typical bitchy roles that predated DYNASTY. This proved to be a nice change of pace, a kind of Gene Tierney as Laura that one man becomes obsessed with, but in a much simpler, more acceptable way. Joan was also seen to great advantage in "Revenge" (1971), which saw release under several other titles, including "Behind the Cellar Door" and "Inn of the Frightened People" (this one aired twice on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater).

Considering the budget, Quest for Love is a remarkable accomplishment. Based on the SF short story "Random Quest" the story follows nuclear physicist Colin Trafford, who is thrust into an alternate reality during a scientific experiment. Trafford finds he has stepped into a world where his counterpart has taken a different path in life and is a respected playwright with a myriad of problems including drinking and womanizing. The scientist, who has led a solitary life is shocked to discover he now has a wife, Ottilie, played by a very effective Joan Collins (who made a very wise decision to accept this role). Their rocky relationship is at the heart of this film. Does Trafford really want to return to his world...or must he? One of the interesting things is there appears to be some sort of edit done about two thirds through that makes a certain transition event confusing, but in no way effects the story. It's just, I would love to see the screenwriter's full intentions for this scene. Quest for Love benefits from fine performances by Collins and Tom Bell as Colin Trafford with good support from Denholm Elliott. Several well known performers, early in their careers, turn up in party scenes. Also of note is the wonderful musical score by Eric Rogers and especially the haunting 'Ottilie' theme by Peter Rogers. As a bonus, Joan Collins has gone on record stating this is her favorite film role. If it's on, don't miss it. You won't be sorry! 10/10.

As a lifelong Tom Bell fan, I was drawn to this film but was mostly surprised by something you never, ever see: a SYMPATHETIC role for Joan Collins! And that lovely name--Ottilie (note spelling, everyone!). If only she had done more of this type of role instead of all the "Dynesty"-clone CRAP which ruined her career and her credibility as an actress of any merit. I also wish "Quest for Love" were available on VHS or DVD. (Apparently it was not released in theaters in the United States.) As for the story line, it is intriguing, and I think it's interesting that it is being classified as science fiction. It just goes to show that that genre comes in all shapes and sizes with, perhaps, something for everyone.

What a powerful and thought-provoking movie. It was refreshing to see Joan Collins in such a different role! She plays such a sweet and gentle person! The whole idea of the movie, alternate realities, is a subject I think many people are intrigued with. I know I feel it is entirely possible - or rather, I am HOPING it is!!! Also, it was done so well, the switching back and forth between the two worlds, that it felt seamless. The intensity builds as the scientist's learns of problems he alone can remedy with this switching of realities. It's a race in time. I saw this film in the 80's. I had turned on the TV one night, very late, and it was just starting. For years now, I have been trying to find it, to watch again. It left me with such a dreamy, anything-is-possible type of feeling!

This is one of those really great little pieces of science fiction that 1) are based on an actual print story (a short piece by John Wyndham, better known for The Midwich Cuckoos/Village of the Damned, and Day of the Triffids) and 2) have practically nothing in the way of special effects to detract from the plot and the characters, which are the important part of every good story.

London, 1971. Colin Trafford is a young Cambridge-educated physicist who works in the research department of a major British company. He is a bachelor.

London 1971. Oxford-educated Colin Trafford, a novelist and playwright, is a rising young star on the British literary scene. He is married to a beautiful young woman named Ottilie.

"Quest for Love" is one of the few films to revolve around the concept of alternate history. Colin the scientist is transported from our version of reality into a parallel universe when one of his experiments goes wrong. This universe is different from our own in a number of ways, having diverged from it in the late 1930s. In this world the Second World War never happened. The League of Nations still exists in 1971 and John F. Kennedy, who evidently did not die in Dallas in 1963, has just been appointed its Secretary General. The actor Leslie Howard is also still alive and Mount Everest is still unconquered. Britain still uses non-decimal currency, and things appear to be a lot cheaper. Crucially for the plot, medical science is less advanced in this world than in our own.

The film does not explore the political aspects of the differences between the two realities. We never learn, for example, how war was avoided in 1939 or whether the Nazis are still in power in Germany. The scriptwriters are more interested in exploring the relationship between Colin and Ottilie. When Colin the scientist suddenly finds himself in the alternative world, he soon realises that his alter ego in that world, Colin the writer, is not a pleasant individual. His marriage to Ottilie is breaking down because of his heavy drinking and frequent affairs with other women.

Colin the scientist's protestations that he and Colin the writer are two different people and that he has come from another universe are (understandably enough) not taken seriously. The only thing that prevents Colin the scientist from being certified as insane is that Colin the writer has a reputation for boasting and for wild and extravagant talk, especially when in his cups. Unlike his womanising alter ago, Colin the scientist falls deeply in love with Ottilie, and although she initially dismisses him as crazy, she too eventually falls in love with him, perhaps because she is convinced by his talk of alternative realities, perhaps because she is still in love with Colin the writer and will welcome any change of heart on his part, even if it does come accompanied by a lot of crazy talk. When Colin the scientist finds himself back in our own reality, he is determined to track down Ottilie's counterpart in this world. (A difficult task; Ottilie exists in our world, but goes by a different name).

From what I have seen of Ralph Thomas's other work, he has always struck me as a second-rate director, at his best in light comedy like the "Doctor" series. His version of "The 39 Steps" is greatly inferior to Hitchcock's, and "Clouded Yellow" is a confused and unconvincing film noir, looking like a pastiche of not just Hitch but also the likes of Carol Reed and Robert Hamer. He also has some even more unworthy entries on his CV, such as the dismal sex "comedy" "Percy" and its worse-than-dismal sequel "Percy's Progress". Perhaps his involvement was the reason why "Quest for Love" was not taken very seriously by the critics in 1971, but it has become one of my favourite British films of the seventies, and is certainly the best of Thomas's films which I have seen.

It reminds me of another romantic science fiction drama, the American-made "Somewhere in Time" from 1980, although that film is about time-travel back to the past rather than between parallel universes. Both involve a man's search for a woman he has known in another world and both have a similarly romantic atmosphere. At the heart of both films is a wonderful performance from a radiantly beautiful British actress, Jane Seymour in the later film and Joan Collins here. For those who think of Collins only in terms of sultry femmes fatales like Fontaine Khaled and Alexis Carrington, this film will come as a revelation. In what I would consider her best-ever performance, Collins shows that she was also able to create a character who was not only beautiful and desirable but also virtuous and utterly loveable.

Tom Bell as the two Colins and and Denholm Elliott as Colin's best friend (in both universes) are also good. It is often said that the British can only do sci-fi on television ("Doctor Who"). "Quest for Love" shows that they can sometimes do it in the cinema as well. 9/10.

Firstly, I applaud jekyll-booty1's review. Secondly this film, when watched as I did, mesmerised, from the first rather expositional minutes of set-up, is beautifully engaging to behold. The premise is so easy to go with, that the actual acting performances shine far beyond the mere scripting of character and circumstance would seem to allow. We want the alternative universe's possibility to live beyond the, somewhat jaded, actuality that provokes the sewer as the impossible, alternative, romance unfolds. Tom Bell does his profession justice. Joan Collins gets a bit of careful soft-focus allure but still runs well with the rather restrictive role the script provides her with (air hostess ?). A cracking TV film for an otherwise dreary mid-week slot, but so above the other too pedestrian fodder offered. Remarkable both for it's evergreen poignancy and it's disdainful yet life-affirming regard for one's world-weary, all-too-knowing, regrets and schadenfreude.