Il caso Trafford

'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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.