Basil Sydney, born in 1894, was a distinguished English actor whose career spanned both stage and screen. He is best known for his role in The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960), where he brought a unique gravitas to the fantasy genre. Sydney's extensive theatrical background included notable performances in classic plays, but his film work, particularly in the 1950s, allowed him to explore new realms of storytelling. His portrayal in The 3 Worlds of Gulliver exemplifies his ability to navigate the whimsical and the profound, contributing to the film's cult status.
The 3 Worlds of Gulliver
In 1699, Dr Lemuel Gulliver is an impoverished surgeon who seeks riches and adventure as a ship's doctor on a voyage around the world. His fiancée Elizabeth strongly wishes for him to settle down, and the two quarrel. Gulliver embarks on the voyage and is soon discovered that Elizabeth has stowed away aboard his ship to be near him. A storm develops and sweeps him overboard. Gulliver is washed ashore on Lilliput, a land of tiny humans who see him as a threatening giant. The Lilliputians are afraid of Gulliver and tie him down with stakes to the beach, but he eases their fears by performing several acts of kindness. An old quarrel between Lilliput and neighboring Blefuscu is revived, and Gulliver lends a hand by towing Blefuscu's warships far out to sea. Lilliput's Emperor then views the giant as a threat to his throne after Gulliver is critical of the reasons for the war (A debate about which end of an egg to cut). Gulliver escapes in a boat he had previously built when the Emperor orders his execution. He makes his way to a large isle Brobdingnag, unaware that it was inhabited by Brobdingnagians, a race of 60 foot giants. After making shore, he encounters a very kind 40 foot peasant brobdingnagian girl named Glumdalclitch finds him on the shore and carries him to the castle of King Brob. Their law requires that all tiny people be brought to the King, who has a collection of "tiny animals". Gulliver is delighted to find Elizabeth, who was washed ashore following a shipwreck. The King installs the two in a dollhouse and lets Glumdalclitch look after them. The King marries Gulliver and Elizabeth. After the wedding, Gulliver and Elizabeth go outside to celebrate but are attacked by a giant squirrel, which drags Gulliver into its burrow. Glumdalclitch, however, is alerted and saves Gulliver by pulling him out of the burrow using her hair. When Gulliver later defeats the King at Chess and cures the Queen of a simple stomach-ache, Prime Minister Makovan accuses Gulliver of witchcraft. Gulliver attempts explaining science to them, but this is taken as further proof of sorcery. After Gulliver is forced to say what the King wanted to hear from him, the king orders Gulliver's execution and sics his pet crocodile against Gulliver, who is able to slay the creature. The King orders him burned, but Glumdalclitch saves Gulliver and Elizabeth from the pursuing Brobdingnagians by placing them in her sewing basket and tossing it into a brook that flows out to the sea. Gulliver and Elizabeth wake on a beach with Glumdalclitch's now small basket behind them. A passer-by of their own size indicates they are only a short distance from their home in England. Elizabeth asks if it had all been a dream. Gulliver, now happy to settle down with Elizabeth, replies that the bad qualities of the pettiness of Lilliput and ignorance of Brobdingnag are inside everyone. When Elizabeth asks about Glumdalclitch, Gulliver gives her a knowing look and says that she has yet to be born.
