Basil Sydney

Acting

Basil Sydney

Born 1894-04-23 · Essex, England, UK

Basil Sydney (23 April 1894 – 10 January 1968) was an English stage and screen actor. Sydney made his name in 1915 in the London stage hit Romance by Edward Sheldon, with Broadway star Doris Keane, and he costarred with Keane in the 1920 silent film of the play. The couple married in 1918, and when Keane revived Romance in New York City in 1921, Sydney made his Broadway debut in the parts. He stayed in New York for over a decade playing classical roles such as Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet (1922), Richard Dudgeon in The Devil's Disciple (1923), the title role in Hamlet (1923), Prince Hal in Henry IV, Part I (1926), and Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew (1927).[citation needed] In 1937 he starred in the murder mystery Blondie White in the West End. He made over 50 screen appearances, most memorably as Claudius in Laurence Olivier's 1948 film of Hamlet. He also appeared in classic films like Treasure Island (1950), Ivanhoe (1952), and Around the World in Eighty Days (1956), but the focus of his career was the stage on both sides of the Atlantic.

Acting credits

Around the World in 80 Days poster
6.7

Based on the famous book by Jules Verne the movie follows Phileas Fogg on his journey around the world. Which has to be completed within 80 days, a very short period for those days.

Around the World in 80 Days

1956

Treasure Island poster
6.6

Enchanted by the idea of locating treasure buried by Captain Flint, Squire Trelawney, Dr. Livesey and Jim Hawkins charter a sailing voyage to a Caribbean island. Unfortunately, a large number of Flint's old pirate crew are aboard the ship, including Long John Silver.

Treasure Island

1950

Ivanhoe poster
6.8

Sir Walter Scott's classic story of the chivalrous Ivanhoe who joins with Robin of Locksley in the fight against Prince John and for the return of King Richard the Lionheart.

Ivanhoe

1952

The Dam Busters poster
6.9

The story of the conception of a new British weapon for smashing the German dams in the Ruhr industrial complex and the execution of the raid by 617 Squadron 'The Dam Busters'.

The Dam Busters

1955

Caesar and Cleopatra poster
6.2

At the height of the Roman Civil War, an aging Julius Caesar finds himself intrigued by the young Egyptian queen Cleopatra, whom he teaches how to rule Egypt.

Caesar and Cleopatra

1945

John Paul Jones poster
6.0

The career of Revolutionary War naval hero John Paul Jones, from his youth in Scotland through his service to Catherine the Great of Russia.

John Paul Jones

1959

Hamlet poster
7.4

Winner of four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor, Sir Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet continues to be the most compelling version of Shakespeare’s beloved tragedy. Olivier is at his most inspired—both as director and as the melancholy Dane himself—as he breathes new life into the words of one of the world’s greatest dramatists.

Hamlet

1948

The 3 Worlds of Gulliver poster
6.6

Doctor Gulliver is poor, so nothing - not even his charming fiancée Elisabeth - keeps him in the town he lives. He signs on to a ship to India, but in a storm he's washed off the ship and ends up on an island, which is inhibitated by very tiny people. After he managed to convince them he's harmless and is accepted as one of their citizens, their king wants to use him in war against a people of giants. Compared to them, even Gulliver is a gnome.

The 3 Worlds of Gulliver

1960

The Devil's Disciple poster
6.6

In a small New England town during the American War of Independence, Dick Dudgeon, a revolutionary American Puritan, is mistaken for local minister Rev. Anthony Anderson and arrested by the British. Dick discovers himself incapable of accusing another human to suffer and continues to masquerade as the reverend.

The Devil's Disciple

1959

Island in the Sun poster
6.5

A scandalous tale of politics, social inequality, interracial romance, and murder set on a fictitious British-owned Caribbean island.

Island in the Sun

1957

Salome poster
5.8

In the reign of emperor Tiberius, Gallilean prophet John the Baptist preaches against King Herod and Queen Herodias. The latter wants John dead, but Herod fears to harm him due to a prophecy. Enter beautiful Princess Salome, Herod's long-absent stepdaughter. Herodias sees the king's dawning lust for Salome as her means of bending the king to her will. But Salome and her lover Claudius are (contrary to Scripture) nearing conversion to the new religion. And the famous climactic dance turns out to have unexpected implications...

Salome

1953

The Hands of Orlac poster
4.4

A famed concert pianist's hands are destroyed in a plane crash; when he receives transplants from a recently executed strangler, his murderous new mitts attract the attention of a sleazy illusionist turned blackmailer.

The Hands of Orlac

1960

Hell Below Zero poster
7.0

Duncan Craig signs on a whaling ship, partly because his own business deal has fallen through, partly to help Judie Nordhall find her father. Rumor has it that her father may have been murdered by Erik Bland, son of her father's partner and her one-time lover. Duncan and Erik find themselves on rival whaleboats and, ultimately, on an ice floe.

Hell Below Zero

1954

The Magic Box poster
6.5

Now old, ill, poor, and largely forgotten, William Freise-Greene was once young and handsome William Green. He changed his name to include his first wife's for the photographic portrait work he excelled at. But he was also an inventor and his search for a way to project moving pictures became an obsession that ultimately changed the life of all those he loved.

The Magic Box

1952

Star of India poster
4.4

Squire Pierre St. Laurent returns from wars in India to 17th-century provincial France to find his estate confiscated by governor Narbonne, for back taxes, and resold to Katrina, a Dutch Countess. Katrina offers to return Pierre's property if he will help her get possession of the 'Star of India,' a fabulous sapphire, held at the moment by Narbonne.

Star of India

1954

Simba poster
6.6

A European family in East Africa finds itself caught up in an uprising by local black Africans against their white colonial masters. Based on the Mau-Mau rebellion in Kenya in the early 1950s.

Simba

1955

Ships with Wings poster
6.0

Before the war, a Fleet Air Arm pilot is dismissed for causing the death of a colleague. Working for a small Greek airline when the Germans invade Greece, he gets a chance to redeem himself and rejoin his old unit on a British carrier. This is regarded the last of the conventional, rather stiff 1930's style Ealing war films, to be succeeded by much more realism and better storytelling.

Ships with Wings

1941

Went the Day Well? poster
7.1

The quiet village of Bramley End is taken over by German troops posing as Royal Engineers. Their task is to disrupt England's radar network in preparation for a full scale German invasion. Once the villagers discover the true identity of the troops, they do whatever they can to thwart the Nazis plans.

Went the Day Well?

1942

The Four Just Men poster
6.7

The Four Men of the title are British WWI veterans who decide to work secretly against enemies of the country. They aren't above a bit of murder or sabotage to serve their ends, but they consider themselves to be true patriots.

The Four Just Men

1939

The Amateur Gentleman poster
6.0

A former boxing champion, now an innkeeper, is accused of stealing a watch from a party of guests at his inn, who happen to be members of English royalty. The old man is arrested and thrown in prison. His son, knowing that his father didn't steal the watch and suspecting a frame-up, follows the royal party to London, where he poses as a wealthy "gentleman" and insinuates himself into the English court in an effort to find out who framed his father and why.

The Amateur Gentleman

1936

Romance poster
9.5

A young man planning to marry receives a cautionary tale from his bishop based on the sad tale of the bishop's own early romance.

Romance

1920

The Riverside Murder poster
5.5

Investor Robert Norman murdered before meeting. Police investigate. Journalist Claire Haines pursues story to impress editor. Intertwining narratives of crime solving and reporting unfold.

The Riverside Murder

1935

The Man Within poster
6.8

A man goes on the run from hardened smugglers.

The Man Within

1947

Sea Wife poster
5.6

In 1942, a cargo ship jammed with British evacuees from Singapore is sunk by a Japanese sub. A small lifeboat carries a beautiful woman, an army officer, a bigoted administrator, and a black seaman. Only the seaman knows the woman is a nun. The men reveal their true selves under the hardships of survival. Told in a too-long flashback frame.

Sea Wife

1957