The 300 Spartans (1962)

A small army of Greeks spearheaded by 300 Spartans do battle with the whole invading Persian army.

Director:

Rudolph Maté

Writers:

George St. George, Ugo Liberatore (original story material),

Stars:

Richard Egan, Ralph Richardson, Diane Baker

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Egan	...	King Leonidas
Ralph Richardson	...	Themistocles of Athens (as Sir Ralph Richardson)
Diane Baker	...	Ellas
Barry Coe	...	Phylon
David Farrar	...	Xerxes
Donald Houston	...	Hydarnes
Anna Synodinou	...	Gorgo
Kieron Moore	...	Ephialtes
John Crawford	...	Agathon the Spartan Spy
Robert Brown	...	Pentheus
Laurence Naismith	...	First Delegate
Anne Wakefield	...	Artemisa
Ivan Triesault	...	Demaratus
Charles Fawcett	...	Megistias
Michalis Nikolinakos	...	Myron (as Michael Nikolinakos)

Storyline

Essentially true story of how Spartan king Leonidas led an extremely small army of Greek Soldiers (300 of them his personal body guards from Sparta) to hold off an invading Persian army now thought to have numbered 250,000. The actual heroism of those who stood (and ultimately died) with Leonidas helped shape the course of Western Civilization, allowing the Greek city states time to organize an army which repelled the Persians. Set in 480 BC.

---

Plot Keywords:

army | persian | spartan | greece | battle | 

---

Taglines:

Thermopylae... mighty battle epic of a handful of men forming tyhe invincible "flying wedge" - against a killer horde five million strong!

---

Genres:

Adventure | Drama | History | War

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

October 1962 (Austria)

Also Known As:

Lion of Sparta

Filming Locations:

Athens, Greece

Box Office

Budget:

$8,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sir Ralph Richardson has only four scenes, despite being second billed.

---

Goofs

When the Immortals attack, the javelins thrown by the Greeks have no points. Many of the Immortals can be seen dropping their weapons to grab the javelins and hold them under their arms or to their chests. A javelin with a blunt end can also be plainly seen hitting one of the extras in the mouth.

---

Quotes

Leonidas, Spartan King: Spartans! We have reached Thermopylae. The orders are: From this wall, we do not retreat!

---

Crazy Credits

Opening credits prologue: In the Year 480 B.C. King Xerxes of Persia set in motion his enormous slave empire to crush the small group of independent Greek states - the only stronghold of freedom still remaining in the then known world...

---

Connections

Version of Last Stand of the 300 (2007)

User Reviews

My favorite all time movie

I saw this movie when it first came out in 1962, I believe, when I was just a kid and it is still one of my favorite movies of all time. As I got older there were a few mistakes in it that I noticed. One was, someone in the movie said that the Spartans fight like Machines. I don't think that the word machines or machines in general were invented then. I could be wrong though. A few other flaws but in my judgement it is one the finest army action fighting movies.Reading history books about the Persian wars it seems quite accurate.