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Quincy's Quest

Quincy's Quest is a 1979 British family film directed by Robert Reed, and starring Tommy Steele, Mel Martin and Charles Morgan.[1] A version was first shown on television on 23 December 1962 as The Tommy Steele Show: Quincy's Quest.[2]

Plot

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In a department store, unwanted toys are set to be destroyed. One of the rejects, a doll named Quincy (Tommy Steele), embarks on a quest to find Santa Claus, the only person who can save them. The first room Quincy enters is for costume dolls, where he meets Mr. Perfect, who is disgusted by the fact Quincy is a reject. Quincy then explains (through song) why he is happy being such.

Conn is informed via telephone that Quincy is a reject and lures him into his ventriloquist dummy show. This allows Quincy the chance to sing, but then Conn convinces him to board a train, claiming it will lead him straight to Santa’s grotto. While driving it, Quincy runs headfirst into a black train, causing both to explode. He is found by a doll named Rebecca, who takes him to her disappearing village made of building blocks. After Rebecca says that the man of her dreams would wear a uniform, Quincy buys a soldier costume and is mistaken as a real red toy soldier. He is sent to battle blue soldiers, but manages to escape.

The Witch blocks the way upstairs with boxes. Quincy considers giving up before voices in his head encourage him to continue, so he throws a rope up to the next storey. After a short rest, he meets a group of animals: Gerry the Giraffe, Larry the Leopard, Lionel the Lion and Ellie the Elephant, who live in a land of stuffed animals. Quincy convinces them to join him on his quest to save his friends and ends up reuniting with Rebecca. She, however, is revealed to be in contact with the Witch, who kidnaps Quincy and ties him up to be attacked by robots. He is able to use various tanks and missiles to defend himself, which causes the Witch to activate the giant robot Archimedes. Top reprograms it to turn on the Witch and crush her.

Quincy carries Rebecca out into Santa’s grotto, and both turn back into regular dolls in time for a group of children led by Santa to find them. Smithy claims that they are rejects and attempts to destroy them. The children attack Smithy, who all grab toys for themselves, except for Quincy and Rebecca, who are picked up by Santa and kept as reminders of love and compassion being gifts to all. Their friends are saved too.

Production

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The film was shot at Shepperton Design Studios. The studio built Archimedes, a ten-foot suit with an unidentified actor inside.

Although it was without fault, the block bridge proved controversial. Designer and Shepperton founder Andrew Ainsworth wanted the bridge to connect like real blocks, using reaction injection molding. However, due to the fact that the cast would dance on top of it, he reinforced it with a welded steel structure, which caused a fire due to the fuel energy contained within the bricks. It was quickly extinguished. Ainsworth then painted the bridge's surface with resin, which caused the cast’s shoes to come off their feet and stick to the ground.[3]

Cast

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Book adaptation

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In 1981, the same year Quincy’s Quest was repeated on ITV, Tommy Steele published a children’s book simply titled Quincy, based on the film.

References

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  1. ^ BFI.org
  2. ^ "The Tommy Steele Show: Quincy's Quest". IMDb. 23 December 1962.
  3. ^ "Shepperton Design Studios - Quincy's Quest". Archived from the original on 18 May 2023. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
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