Synopsis

Phil Collins drives a vintage Ford convertible around Los Angeles, searching for the woman who failed to meet him after what appears to be a romantic misunderstanding. Along the way, he checks various locations and landmarks while Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford perform on a piano and electric guitar mounted on the back of a moving truck. The video plays the song's frustration for light comedy, contrasting Collins' increasingly determined search with the band's relaxed, road-trip presentation.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was filmed in Los Angeles from May 24 to May 27, 1980, while Genesis were in the city for concerts on the Duke tour.

• Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford perform on the back of a truck, with Banks at a piano and Rutherford playing electric guitar.

• The Los Angeles setting includes recognizable details such as the Capitol Records Tower and street signs for Hollywood Boulevard.

• Phil Collins drives a 1950s Ford convertible and appears with a beard, giving the performance a distinctly casual early-1980s look.

• The woman Collins is trying to find was played by Linda Kendall, who was known at the time as a Max Factor spokesperson.

• Two different edits of the video are known to exist. One includes alternate shots of Collins and additional footage of Kendall, including scenes at the Griffith Park Observatory.

• The version with the alternate footage was not included on the principal Genesis music-video collections.

• The theatrical billboards visible in the background help date the shoot: advertisements for The Hollywood Knights and The Nude Bomb were both promoting films released in May 1980.

• The single version used for the video is shorter and slightly sped up compared with the album recording, running about 3:04 instead of the album version's approximately 3:11.

• "Misunderstanding" became one of Genesis' early major American hits, reaching No. 14 in the United States.