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.
A good take on parallel worlds, really enjoyed it.
Sweet movie involving love and time travel (or a parallel universe created by time travel. Joan Collins sort of reprises her Edith Keeler role (Star Trek's acclaimed The City on Edge of Forever episode), and once again must die (though not to save history - it's just her sad lot).
Based on the 1954 short story "Random Quest" by John Wyndham, this is one of the few screen adaptations which I thought was better than the original work. The short story and the film follow the same basic storyline: due to a failed experiment, a physicist named Colin Trafford is sent to a parallel universe where World War II never happened and his counterpart is a successful author and complete bastard with a beautiful wife named Ottilie Harsham, with whom he falls in love almost immediately.
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.
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.
What a powerful and thought-provoking movie. It was refreshing to see Joan Collins in such a different role!
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.
Set against political turmoil in Southern Africa, the film uses flashbacks to create a rhythm between Alexandra's memory and her current self-discovery, climaxing in her reunion with Dorothy. It is a complex structure, but Nogueira manages to create a film of emotional power, and presents us with three-dimensional lesbian characters - one experiencing conflicts regarding her role, the other at ease with herself and her sexual orientation.
