The Questor Tapes (TV 1974)

Project Questor is brainchild of the genius Dr. Vaslovik: he developed plans to build an android super-human. Although he's disappeared and half of his programming tape was erased in the ... See full summary »

Director:

Richard A. Colla

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry (teleplay), Gene L. Coon (teleplay),

Stars:

Robert Foxworth, Mike Farrell, John Vernon

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Foxworth	...	Questor
Mike Farrell	...	Jerry Robinson
John Vernon	...	Geoffrey Darro
Lew Ayres	...	Vaslovik
James Shigeta	...	Dr. Chen
Robert Douglas	...	Dr. Michaels
Dana Wynter	...	Lady Helena Trimble
Ellen Weston	...	Allison Sample
Majel Barrett	...	Dr. Bradley
Reuben Singer	...	Dr. Gorlov
Walter Koenig	...	Administrative Assistant
Fred Sadoff	...	Dr. Audret
Gerald Peters	...	Randolph
Eyde Girard	...	Stewardess
Alan Caillou	...	Immigration Offical

Storyline

Project Questor is brainchild of the genius Dr. Vaslovik: he developed plans to build an android super-human. Although he's disappeared and half of his programming tape was erased in the attempt to decode it, his former colleagues continue the project and finally succeed. But Vaslovik seems to have installed a secret program in Questor's brain: He flees and starts to search for Vaslovik. Since half of his knowledge is missing, he needs the help of Jerry Robinson, who's now under suspect of having stolen the android.

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Plot Keywords:

android | unsold tv series pilot | computer tape | airplane stewardess | unlikely friendship | 

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Genres:

Sci-Fi

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 January 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ein Android wird gejagt

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jeffrey Hayes Productions, Universal TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Leonard Nimoy was considered for the role of Questor.

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Goofs

Darrow enters the Lear jet, sets the tracking device down, and flips the switch to the "up" position to activate it. The next time that we see the tracking device, the switch is in the "down" position.

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Quotes

Jerry Robinson: Do you understand the implications of all this? Suppose Vaslovik isn't a good man.
[pause]
Jerry Robinson: Suppose he isn't even sane.
Questor: One's creator not sane... An interesting question. How would you answer that query in your own case, my friend?

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Connections

Referenced in Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Royale (1989)

User Reviews

Wish There'd Been a Series

A fun, light, probably-would-have-been-inexpensive-to-produce-a-series-from-it movie. The eponymous android was, though, perhaps a bit too superior to make it easy to believe viewers would want him. He's Spock-like in his lack of feelings and in his super-brain, but also in his naivete'. It would probably be fair to guess this was all very deliberate, but that's okay. It works pretty well in this film, except for the moments when it drifts into some of those annoying roboticisms that all movie robots must embrace, it seems. For example, he insists on referring to money as "specie." Why? Apparently because he's a robot and they get stubborn about things like that.

This could and should have been a series. In some ways, it would have been what the series-version of "Starman" never reached, because the lead character had the same poignancy and innocence, but added more nobility and a loftier sense of mission. Alas, stories that hearken back to the Tin Man's wish for a heart all seem to have been shelved with the era that produced them, along with the ecology movement, the moon race, and the phrase "thinking machine." I miss two out of three of those, and also movies like this one.