The 3 Worlds of Gulliver 1960  N/R, 100 min.
Genre: Adventure
Director: Jack Sher
Cast: Kerwin Mathews, Jo Morrow, June Thorburn, Lee Patterson, Gregoire Aslan, Basil Sydney, Charles Lloyd Pack, Martin Benson, Mary Ellis, Peter Bull
This version of the Jonathan Swift classic tale is entertaining, as the shipwrecked Gulliver (Kerwin Mathews) ends up in the small, small world of the Lilliputians followed by visiting the land of Brobdignag, home of the giants. Most of Swift's biting satire is missing, though some is retained. The young ones should like it.
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Accused 1936  N/R, 83 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Thornton Freeland
Cast: Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Dolores del Rio, Florence Desmond, Roland Culver, Moore Marriott, Cecil Humphreys, Cyril Raymond, Basil Sydney, Googie Withers, J.H. Roberts, Esme Percy, Edward Rigby, Leo Genn
Set in a Paris nightclub, this is the story of dancing team Tony and Gaby Seymour (Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Dolores del Rio) and the murder of Yvette Delange (Florence Desmond) who has been making a play for Tony. Yvette is accused as a murderess, and the real solution to the crime is revealed during the court scenes.
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Caesar and Cleopatra 1945 N/R, 135 min.
Genre: Drama / Comedy
Director: Gabriel Pascal
Cast: Claude Rains, Vivien Leigh, Stewart Granger, Anthony Harvey, Francis L. Sullivan, Flora Robson, Cecil Parker, Stanley Holloway, Leo Genn, Jean Simmons, Basil Sydney, Raymond Lovell, Anthony Eustrel, Ernest Thesiger, Michael Rennie
Adapted from George Bernard Shaw's play, this is the story of Julius Caesar (Claude Rains) and the help he gives Cleopatra (Vivien Leigh) to attain her goal of ruling Egypt. They meet under the Sphinx in Egypt, and Caesar teaches Cleopatra about politics and how to behave like a queen. But, despite Caesar's attentions, Cleopatra yearns for Marc Antony who is far away in Rome.
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The Dam Busters 1954  N/R, 125 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Michael Anderson
Cast: Michael Redgrave, Ursula Jeans, Richard Todd, Raymond Huntley, Frank Phillips, Basil Sydney, Derek Farr, Robert Shaw, Colin Tapley, Nigel Stock
During World War II, a plan was formulated to bomb German dams along the Ruhr River. This is the story of how the R.A.F. carried out the mission.
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The Devil's Disciple 1959  N/R, 82 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Guy Hamilton
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Janette Scott, Eva Le Gallienne, Harry Andrews, Basil Sydney, George Rose, Mervyn Johns, Neil McCallum
In this screen adaptation of the George Bernard Shaw play, Anthony Anderson (Burt Lancaster) is a minister during America's Revolutionary War who led colonists in an attempt to fool the British.
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 Hamlet 1948   N/R, 153 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Laurence Olivier
Cast: Laurence Olivier, Basil Sydney, Eileen Herlie, Jean Simmons, Felix Aylmer, Norman Wooland, Terence Morgan, Peter Cushing, Stanley Holloway, John Laurie, Esmond Knight, Anthony Quayle, Niall MacGinnis, Harcourt Williams, Christopher Lee
This film represents Laurence Olivier at his best starring as the melancholy Dane, Prince Hamlet. Soon after his father's death, Hamlet's mother, Queen Gertrude (Eileen Herlie), marries her brother-in-law Claudius (Basil Sydney). Now his father's ghost returns to speak to Hamlet and tells him that his own brother Claudius murdered him. He wants Hamlet to be kind to Gertrude but to kill Claudius. Hamlet vows to avenge his death and fakes madness to accomplish that goal. His acts lead to the end of several lives–including Claudius, Gertrude, Hamlet's chief counselor Polonius (Felix Almer) and Polonius' daughter Ophelia (Jean Simmons) who loves Hamlet, and, finally, Hamlet. There was a well-deserved Best Actor Oscar presented to Olivier. The film also won Oscars for Best Picture, Art Direction/Set Decoration, and Costume Design. Olivier also received a nomination for Best Director, and Simmons was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
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 Ivanhoe 1952 N/R, 106 min.
Genre: Action / Adventure / Drama / Romance
aka: Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe
Director: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Emlyn Williams, Robert Douglas, Finlay Currie, Felix Aylmer, Sebastian Cabot, Francis De Wolff, Norman Wooland, Basil Sydney, Harold Warrender, Patrick Holt, Guy Rolfe
Ivanhoe (Robert Taylor) is a knight whose quest is to save King Richard the Lionhearted (Norman Wooland) who has been captured during his return home from the Crusades. King Richard is imprisoned in Austria, and Ivanhoe plans to enter a tournament to raise ransom money to rescue him when Ivanhoe's evil brother Prince John (Guy Rolfe) refuses to pay for Richard's release. The lovely Rebecca (Elizabeth Taylor) pays Ivanhoe's entry fee for the tournament because Ivanhoe had rescued her Jewish father Isaac (Felix Aylmer) from the anti-Semites. But, Prince John's cohort De Bois-Guilbert (George Sanders) wants Rebecca for himself and kidnaps her. Action and chivalry abound, and, by story's end, good overtakes evil.
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Salome 1953 N/R, 103 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: William Dieterle
Cast: Rita Hayworth, Stewart Granger, Charles Laughton, Judith Anderson, Cedric Hardwicke, Alan Badel, Basil Sydney, Rex Reason, Arnold Moss, Maurice Schwartz
A great cast just cannot pull off this Biblical drama about the princess Salome (Rita Hayworth) who seduces John the Baptist and, later, repents and tries to save his life.
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Sea Wife 1957 N/R, 82 min.
Genre: Adventure / Drama
Director: Bob McNaught
Cast: Joan Collins, Richard Burton, Basil Sydney, Cy Grant, Ronald Squire, Harold Goodwin, Joan Hickson, Gibb McLaughlin, Roddy Hughes, Lloyd Lamble, Nora Nicholson, Ronald Adam, Beatrice Varley, Yvette Wyatt
In 1942, soon after setting sail from Singapore, four British survivors–a beautiful nun (Joan Collins), an army officer (Richard Burton), a bigoted business administrator (Basil Sydney), and the Black purser (Cy Grant)–reveal their true personalities as they struggle to survive under great hardships after their ship is sunk by a Japanese torpedo.
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Ships with Wings 1942 N/R, 102 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Sergei Nolbandov
Cast: John Clements, Leslie Banks, Jane Baxter, Ann Todd, Basil Sydney, Edward Chapman, Hugh Williams, Frank Pettingell, Michael Wilding, Michael Rennie, Cecil Parker, John Stuart, Morland Graham, Charles Victor, Hugh Burden
During World War II, R.A.F. pilot Lt. Dick Stacey (John Clements) has fallen in love with Celia (Jane Baxter) who is the daughter of Adm. Wetherby (Leslie Banks). Stacey takes a plane without permission and crashes it leaving Celia's brother Lt. Wetherby (Hugh Burden) dead. His romance with Celia ends. After his court-martial, Stacey serves aboard the H.M.S. Ark Royal–the ship with wings–where he becomes a mercenary charter pilot in the Mediterranean. Stacey regains his patriotism when he goes on a suicide mission, crashes his plane into a German dam site, and floods a German post. He has redeemed himself and dies a hero.
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Treasure Island 1950 N/R, 96 min.
Genre: Family / Adventure
Director: Byron Haskin
Cast: Bobby Driscoll, Robert Newton, Basil Sydney, Walter Fitzgerald, Denis O'Dea, Ralph Truman, Finlay Currie, John Laurie, Francis De Wolff, David Davies, Geoffrey Wilkinson, Geoffrey Keen, John Gregson, Andrew Blackett, William Devlin
Bobby Driscoll is delightful as young, cabin boy Jim Hawkins, whose treasure map is coveted by a band of pirates headed by one-legged Long John Silver (Robert Newton). Jim must contend with Long John Silver and the pirates who are also aboard the ship. A good Disney version of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic.
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Went the Day Well? 1942 N/R, 92 min.
Genre: Drama / Thriller
aka: 48 Hours
Director: Alberto Cavalcanti
Cast: Leslie Banks, Frank Lawton, Basil Sydney, Valerie Taylor, Elizabeth Allan, C.V. France, Mervyn Johns, Marie Lohr, David Farrar, Harry Fowler, Edward Rigby, Thora Hird, Norman Pierce, Johnnie Schofield, Patricia Hayes
During World War II, German paratroopers, led by Nazi officer Ortier (Basil Sydney), disguise themselves as British soldiers and make contact with Fifth Columnist Oliver Wileford (Leslie Banks). They are welcomed into a British hamlet. Their plan is to disrupt Britain's radar network. However, the village residents catch onto the ruse, fight back gallantly, and the mission fails.
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| 1. The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960)
2. Accused (1936)
3. Caesar and Cleopatra (1945)
4. The Dam Busters (1954)
5. The Devil's Disciple (1959)
6. Hamlet (1948)
7. Hell Below Zero (1954)
8. Ivanhoe (1952)
aka: Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe
9. Salome (1953)
10. Sea Wife (1957)
11. Ships with Wings (1942)
12. Treasure Island (1950)
13. Went the Day Well? (1942)
aka: 48 Hours
In The News
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