The 300 Spartans (1962)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Rudolph Maté

Writers:

Gian Paolo Callegari (original story material)
Remigio Del Grosso (original story material)

Release Date:

August 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | History | War

Plot:

Essentially true story of how Spartan king Leonidas led an extremely small army of Greek Soldiers (300...

Plot Keywords:

Persian | Greece | Spartan | Soldier | Warrior

Cast

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)

Also Known As:

Lion of Sparta

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #29936) | Australia:G | West Germany:12 (nf) | Malaysia:U (DVD) | Singapore:PG | Germany:12 (DVD rating) | Finland:K-12 | UK:PG | UK:U (cut)

Filming Locations:

Athens, Greece

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The film is listed in the annual "Screen World" for 1961 releases as "The Lion Of Sparta", but reappears with full photo coverage for the next issue (for 1962 releases) as "300 Spartans".

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: 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:

Hydarnes, Commander of the Immortals: [Xerxes has sent an emissary to demand the Spartan surrender] yesterday, we only probed your positions. When we attack today, our arrows will blot out the sun!
Leonidas, Spartan King: Good; then we will fight in the shade.
Hydarnes, Commander of the Immortals: Leonidas; you cannot win this fight.
Leonidas, Spartan King: Every day we stand is another day for Greece.
[Starts to walk off]
Hydarnes, Commander of the Immortals: Leonidas, wait! Xerxes says that if you and your men lay down your arms, he will allow you to leave peaceably.
Leonidas, Spartan King: [In Greek] Come and take them!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Watchmen (2009)

A Tale of Courage, Heroism and Idealism

In 480 BC, the ambitious, cruel and merciless King Xerxes (David Farrar) of Persia invades Greece with his huge army to extend his vast slave empire. The brave Spartan army is the great hope to free and unite Greece, and Ling Leonidas (Richard Egan) promises to the council of the Greek Stats to defend the passage of Thermopylae, the only way by land to reach Athens. However, he is betrayed by the politicians of Sparta and stays alone with his personal body guard army composed of three hundred warriors only. Using courage and great knowledge of strategies of war, he defends Thermopylae until a treacherous goatherd tells King Xerxes a secret goat passage leading to the back of Leonidas's army.

The epic "The 300 Spartans" is a great tale of courage, heroism and idealism. This story has romance, action and drama, with great interpretations and choreography in the battle scenes. I laughed a lot with the witty line of the old goatherd to Phylon: - "Who can understand the way of gods? They create lovely girls and then turn them into wives." The use of red clothes by the Spartan army to hide the blood from the enemies shows how this warriors were war oriented . My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Os 300 de Esparta" ("The 300 from Sparta")