300 spartalaista (1962)

A small Army of Greeks spearheaded by three hundred Spartans do battle with the whole invading Persian Army.

Director:

Rudolph Maté

Writers:

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

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.

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Plot Keywords:

battle of thermopylae | army | persian | greek | spartan | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

K-3

Did You Know?

Trivia

Finnish censorship certificate # 64266 delivered on 29-1-1963.

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Goofs

(at around 1h 30 mins) As the Immortals are marching along the old goat track, the shadow of a crew member can be seen in the bushes, bottom left of the screen.

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Quotes

Agathon the Spartan Spy: Leonidas! The barbarians have sent an emissary to talk with you. It is Hydarnes himself.
Leonidas, Spartan King: Hydarnes? Good, get me a clean cloak.
Agathon the Spartan Spy: How many men do you want for an escort?
Leonidas, Spartan King: [Scornfully] When has a Spartan king needed an escort to talk to a mere Persian?

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Crazy Credits

The box for the Fox U.S. DVD release credits the director as "Rudy Mate." "Rudy" was actually director Rudolph Mate's nickname.

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Connections

Featured in Manos Hatzidakis: Eidolo ston kathrefti (2008)

User Reviews

Fantastic Film

This movie just came out on DVD, and it's something to get your hands on, no doubt.

The Battle Of Thermopylae is a great story of heroism, and captured here with great acting and breath-taking battle scenes sans special fx. I have no doubt this movie will be remade, especially since it's been ripped off endlessly (especially in recent times.)

Let's just start with the acting. Richard Egan and Ralph Richardson are, on their own, great actors. The chemistry between the two actors is endearing and honest. Richardson plays the older, wiser Themistocles while Egan plays the strong, respectful lionhearted King Leonidas. Both of them are wonderful to watch, and with Egan, it's nice to see an actor who plays a role as a human instead of a Shakespearean caricature. He's stoic, yet totally sympathetic. Wonderful.

Geoff Unsworth and Rudolph Mate succeeded in capturing the landscape of an ancient land, though I obviously was not there to verify that this is in fact what the land looked like. Come to think of it, neither were any of us! So, to try to criticize the movie on details with such vitriol that its as if you lived it yourself is, in all honesty, laughable and pathetic. Great, you derive joy from nit picking a MOVIE meant to stir discussion and above all, entertain. Bully for you.

Regardless, 300 Spartans is a great story of courage, sacrifice, and selflessness. Oh, and it was well done. Period.

Anyhow, if you've got wits, get this movie.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 May 1963 (Finland)

Also Known As:

300 spartalaista

Filming Locations:

Lake Vouliagmeni, Vouliagmeni 166 71, Greece

Box Office

Budget:

GBP500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1