''The 3 Worlds of Gulliver'' is a 1960

Eastmancolor Eastmancolor is a trade name used by Eastman Kodak for a number of related film and processing technologies associated with color motion picture production and referring to George Eastman, founder of Kodak. Eastmancolor, introduced in 1950, was on ...

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

fantasy film loosely based upon the 1726 novel '' Gulliver's Travels'' by

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dubl ...

. The film stars

Kerwin Mathews Kerwin Mathews (January 8, 1926 – July 5, 2007) was an American actor best known for playing the titular heroes in ''The 7th Voyage of Sinbad'' (1958), ''The Three Worlds of Gulliver'' (1960) and ''Jack the Giant Killer'' (1962). Early life ...

as the

title character The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piece. The title of ...

June Thorburn Patricia June Thorburn Smith (8 June 1931 – 4 November 1967) was a popular English actress whose career was cut short by her death in an air crash. Early life Thorburn was born in Karachi, then part of British India. She was the eldest ...

as his fiancée Elizabeth, and child actress

Sherry Alberoni Sharyn Eileen "Sherry" Alberoni (born December 4, 1946) is a former child American actress. Alberoni got her start as a Mouseketeer on the weekday ABC television program ''The Mickey Mouse Club''. As an adult, she became a voice artist for Hanna ...

Glumdalclitch Glumdalclitch is the name Gulliver gives his "nurse" in Book II of Jonathan Swift's 1726 novel ''Gulliver's Travels''. In Book I, Gulliver travels to the land of Lilliput. Leaving there, he travels to the land of Brobdingnag. In Lilliput, Gulli ...

. Filmed in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, ''The 3 Worlds of Gulliver'' was directed by

Jack Sher John Jacob Sher (16 March 1913 – 23 August 1988) was an American newspaper columnist, songwriter, film director, film writer, and producer. Career Born in Minneapolis, Sher wrote for several magazines, including the ''Saturday Evening Post,'' ...

and featured stop-motion animation and special visual effects by

Ray Harryhausen Raymond Frederick Harryhausen (June 29, 1920 – May 7, 2013) was an American-British animator and special effects creator who created a form of stop motion model animation known as "Dynamation". His works include the animation for '' Mi ...

. The cast includes Martin Benson as Flimnap,

Lee Patterson Lee Patterson (March 31, 1929 – February 14, 2007) was a Canadian film and television actor. Life and career Patterson was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, as Beverley Frank Atherly Patterson. He attended the Ontario College of Art and ...

as Reldresal,

Jo Morrow Beverly Jo Morrow (born November 1, 1939) is an American actress who played the female lead in six B films between 1958 and 1964, and supporting roles in four major studio features, as well as appearing in 12 television episodes. Following a six- ...

as Gwendolyn,

Mary Ellis Mary Ellis (born May Belle Elsas, June 15, 1897 – January 30, 2003) was an American actress and singer appearing on stage, radio, television and film, best known for her musical theatre roles, particularly in Ivor Novello works. After appe ...

as the Queen of

Brobdingnag Brobdingnag is a fictional land, which is occupied by giants, in Jonathan Swift's 1726 satirical novel ''Gulliver's Travels.'' The story's main character, Lemuel Gulliver, visits the land after the ship on which he is travelling is blown off co ...

, Marian Spencer as the Empress of Lilliput,

Peter Bull Peter Cecil Bull, (21 March 1912 – 20 May 1984) was a British character actor who appeared in supporting roles in such films as '' The African Queen'', ''Tom Jones'', and ''Dr. Strangelove''. Biography He was the fourth and youngest son o ...

as Lord Bermogg and

Alec Mango Alec Mango (16 March 1911 – 7 November 1989) was an English actor. He is best known for portraying El Supremo in the 1951 ''Captain Horatio Hornblower'', he also appeared in '' South of Algiers'' (1953), ''The Strange World of Planet X'' (195 ...

as the Minister of Lilliput.

Plot

In 1699, Dr

Lemuel Gulliver Lemuel Gulliver () is the fictional protagonist and narrator of ''Gulliver's Travels'', a novel written by Jonathan Swift, first published in 1726. In ''Gulliver's Travels'' According to Swift's novel, Gulliver was born in Nottinghamshire c. ...

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 soon discovers 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 that he had previously built when the emperor orders his execution. He makes his way to a large isle called

, unaware that it is inhabited by Brobdingnagians, a race of 60-foot giants. After making shore, he encounters a very kind 40-foot peasant girl named

, who 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. However, Glumdalclitch is alerted and saves Gulliver by pulling him out of the burrow using her hair. When Gulliver later defeats the king at

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

and cures the queen of a simple stomachache, Prime Minister Makovan accuses Gulliver of

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...

. Gulliver attempts to explain science to them, but this is taken as further proof of

sorcery Sorcery may refer to: * Magic (supernatural), the application of beliefs, rituals or actions employed to subdue or manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces ** Witchcraft, the practice of magical skills and abilities * Magic in fiction, ...

. After Gulliver is forced to say what the king wanted to hear from him, the king orders Gulliver's execution and unleashes his pet crocodile against Gulliver, but Gulliver 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 small basket behind them. A passerby of their own size indicates that 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 Lilliput's pettiness and Brobdingnag's ignorance are inside everyone. When Elizabeth asks about Glumdalclitch, Gulliver gives her a knowing look and says that she has yet to be born.

Cast

as Dr.

as Gwendolyn *

as Elizabeth *

as Reldresal *

Grégoire Aslan Grégoire Aslan (born Krikor Kaloust Aslanian; 28 March 1908 – 8 January 1982) was a Swiss-Armenian actor and musician. Early life Krikor Kaloust Aslanian ( hy, Գրիգոր Գալուստի Ասլանյան) was born in Switzerland or in Co ...

as King Brob *

Basil Sydney Basil Sydney (23 April 1894 – 10 January 1968) was an English stage and screen actor. Career 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 t ...

as Emperor of Lilliput *

Charles Lloyd-Pack Charles Lloyd-Pack (10 October 1902 – 22 December 1983) was a British film, television and stage actor. Life and career Lloyd-Pack was born at Wapping, East London, to working-class parents. He was seen in several horror films produced by the ...

as Makovan * Martin Benson as Flimnap *

as Queen of

* Marian Spencer as Empress of Lilliput *

as Lord Bermogg *

as Minister of Lilliput * Sherri Alberoni as

* Oliver Johnston as Mr. Grinch * Waveney Lee as Shrike - Makovan's daughter

Production

The project began as a script by Arthur Ross. He and producer Elliot Lewis pitched a fantasy film to NBC that would combine two '' Gulliver's Travels'' stories, "Lilliput" and "Brobdingdang." NBC approved the script but Ross says that the project died because of a strike by the Writers Guild.

then became attached as producer and the project was planned at

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

as a feature. Charles Schneer said that

Bryan Foy Bryan Foy (December 8, 1896 – April 20, 1977) was an American film producer and director. He produced more than 200 films between 1924 and 1963. He also directed 41 films between 1923 and 1934. He headed the B picture unit at Warner Bro ...

developed the property at Columbia. When Foy moved to

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

, chief executive Ben Kahane gave the project to Schneer. According to Schneer, Ross and Sher rewrote the script. In October 1958, it was announced that Schneer, who called the project "the most complicated picture ever attempted," would produce ''Gulliver's Travels'', to be directed by Jack Sher. Columbia was announced as the film's distributor. According to Sher, the film was allocated an insufficient budget. The film, which was shot in Spain, featured 150 trick sequences. It would be the second film featuring

's "Dynamation" process; ''

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad ''The 7th Voyage of Sinbad'' is a 1958 Technicolor heroic fantasy adventure film directed by Nathan H. Juran and starring Kerwin Mathews, Torin Thatcher, Kathryn Grant, Richard Eyer, and Alec Mango. It was distributed by Columbia Pictures ...

'' was the first. The oldest Harryhausen model still existing that was made for the film is that of the squirrel, obtained from a

taxidermist Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body via mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the proc ...

by Harryhausen. The original armatured model of the crocodile used in the film was mysteriously lost. According to Kerwin Matthews, Columbia wanted Jack Lemmon to play the lead, but Lemmon turned it down. Schneer says that Sher wanted Lemmon but Columbia did not: "He was considered a comedy actor, and wasn't taken seriously as a dramatic actor. Also, I don't think Harry Cohn wanted Lemmon to do the picture. So, Kerwin was really our only other choice. He was one of the few American actors who could play a classical role, and would look right in a period costume."

starred in the film at the same time during which she was appearing in '' Our Man in Havana''. She had an affair with Sher during filmmaking, and she says that it affected her performance. Schenner later said:

Sher wanted to make a name for himself as a director but he didn't have sufficient experience to direct the picture. It was the first time we had that problem with a director. Fortunately, we had a wonderful cameraman named Wilkie Cooper. Ray, Wilkie and I directed the camera, and we let Sher talk the actors through their lines. We didn't want to undermine him with the actors, so we would tell him, 'This is what we want. Please do it'— and he would. Sher got the screen credit, but he was out of his depth, and he knew it.

The film's premiere, attended by Princess Margaret, was a benefit for charity.

Reception

In ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' of December 17, 1960, Eugene Archer praised the film's technical achievement in stop-motion animation and enthusiastically recommended it for children but noted: "While the adults will find it all too mechanical to really capture the imagination, and may resent the unclear ending that seems certain to provoke some youthful queries, they should be grateful for a children's film that treats a classic without condescension or burlesque."

Comic book adaption

* Dell

Four Color ''Four Color'', also known as ''Four Color Comics'' and ''Dell Four Color'', was an American comic book anthology series published by Dell Comics between 1939 and 1962. The title is a reference to the four basic colors used when printing comic ...

#1158 (January 1961)

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:3 Worlds of Gulliver, The 1960 films 1960s fantasy adventure films 1960s science fiction films American children's adventure films American children's fantasy films American fantasy adventure films Columbia Pictures films 1960s English-language films Films adapted into comics Films based on Gulliver's Travels Films directed by Jack Sher Films scored by Bernard Herrmann Fiction set in 1699 Films set in the 1690s Films shot in England Films shot in the province of Ávila Films using stop-motion animation Films with screenplays by Jack Sher Films produced by Charles H. Schneer 1960s American films