The 300 Spartans

The 300 Spartans
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Rudolph Maté
Produced by	Rudolph Maté George St. George
Screenplay by	George St. George
Story by	Gian Paolo Callegari Remigio Del Grosso Giovanni d'Eramo Ugo Liberatore
Starring	Richard Egan Ralph Richardson Diane Baker Barry Coe David Farrar
Music by	Manos Hadjidakis
Cinematography	Geoffrey Unsworth
Edited by	Jerry Webb
Production company	20th Century Fox
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release dates	August 29, 1962 (1962-08-29) (USA)
Running time	114 min
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$8,500,000
Box office	$76,520,000

Epitaph with Simonides' epigram (modern replica)

The 300 Spartans is a 1962 CinemaScope film depicting the Battle of Thermopylae. Made with the cooperation of the Greek government, it was shot in the village of Perachora in the Peloponnese. It starred Richard Egan as the Spartan king Leonidas, Ralph Richardson as Themistocles of Athens and David Farrar as Persian king Xerxes, with Diane Baker as Ellas and Barry Coe as Phylon providing the requisite romantic element in the film. In the film, a force of Greek warriors led by 300 Spartans fights against a Persian army of almost limitless size. Despite the odds, the Spartans will not flee or surrender, even if it means their deaths.

When it was released in 1962, critics saw the movie as a commentary on the Cold War,^[1] referring to the independent Greek states as "the only stronghold of freedom remaining in the then known world", holding out against the Persian "slave empire".

Plot

Xerxes I of Persia leads a vast army of soldiers into Europe to defeat the small city-states of Greece, not only to fulfill the idea of "one world ruled by one master", but also to avenge the defeat of his father at the Battle of Marathon ten years before. Accompanying him are Artemisia I, the Queen of Halicarnassus, who beguiles Xerxes with her feminine charm, and Demaratus, an exiled king of Sparta, to whose warnings Xerxes pays little heed.

In Corinth, Themistocles of Athens wins the support of the Greek allies and convinces both the delegates and the Spartan representative, Leonidas I, to grant Sparta leadership of their forces. Outside the hall, Leonidas and Themistocles agree to fortify the pass at Thermopylae until the rest of the army arrives. After this, Leonidas learns of the Persian advance and travels to Sparta to spread the news.

In Sparta, his fellow king Leotychidas is fighting a losing battle with the Ephors over the religious festival of Carnea that is due to take place, with members of the council arguing that the army should wait until after the festival is over before it marches, while Leotychidas fears that by that time the Persians may have conquered Greece. Leonidas decides to march north immediately with his personal bodyguard of 300 men, who are exempt from the decisions of the Ephors and the Gerousia. They are subsequently reinforced by Thespians led by Demophilus and other Greek allies.

After several days of fighting, Xerxes grows angry as his army is repeatedly routed by the Greeks, with the Spartans in the forefront. Leonidas receives word that, by decision of the Ephors, the remainder of the Spartan army, rather than joining him as he had expected, will only fortify the isthmus in the Peloponnese and will advance no further. The Greeks constantly beat back the Persians, and following the defeat of his personal bodyguard in battle against the Spartans, Xerxes begins to consider withdrawing to Sardis until he can equip a larger force at a later date. As he prepares to withdraw, however, Xerxes receives word from the treacherous and avaricious Ephialtes of a goat-track through the mountains that will enable his forces to attack the Greeks from the rear. Promising to reward Ephialtes for his betrayal, Xerxes sends his army onward.

Once Leonidas realizes he will be surrounded, he sends away the Greek allies to alert the cities to the south. Being too few to hold the pass, the Spartans instead attack the Persian front, where Xerxes is nearby. Leonidas is killed in the melée. Meanwhile the Thespians, who had refused to leave, are overwhelmed (offscreen) while defending the rear. Surrounded, the surviving Spartans refuse Xerxes's demand to give up Leonidas' body. They are then annihilated by arrowfire.

After this, narration states that the Battle of Salamis and the Battle of Plataea end the Persian invasion, which could not have been organized without the time bought by the 300 Spartans who defied the tyranny of Xerxes at Thermopylae. One of the final images of the film is the memorial bearing the epigram of Simonides of Ceos, which is recited.

Main cast

Production

The battle scenes were shot near the village of Perachora, on the mainland side of the Corinth Canal, as it was impossible to shoot at the actual location in Thermopylae where 2,500 years of silt has shrunk the Malian Gulf drastically since the battle in 480 B.C., turning the strait where the battle was fought into a broad coastal plain. Some 5,000 members of the Hellenic Army were loaned by the Greek Ministry of National Defence to portray both the Spartans and the Persians.

Trivia

Despite Cold War connotations the film was dubbed in Russian and it was shown in the USSR in 1970. The film was very popular there - 27.1 million of viewers had seen it.^[2]

Legacy

Comic artist Frank Miller saw this movie as a boy and said "it changed the course of my creative life".^[3] His graphic novel 300 is about the Battle of Thermopylae, and in 2007, was adapted into a successful film.

See also

• List of American films of 1962
• List of historical drama films
• 300 (film)
• 300: Rise of an Empire
• List of films based on military books (pre-1775)

References

External links

• The 300 Spartans at the Internet Movie Database
• The 300 Spartans (1962) at DBCult Film Institute
• The 300 Spartans! at AllMovie
• The 300 Spartans publicity photos at 300spartanwarriors.com