A glance at the date and style of advertising for this telling of the oft-told Battle of Thermopylae (the legendary Fifth Century B.C. holding action by vastly outnumbered Spartans against Xerxes’ Persian hordes) suggests one of those Sword & Sandals epics-on-the-cheap flooding the market in the wake of the huge commercial success of HERCULES UNCHAINED/’59. Not so. This was meant as a quality release, boasting a decent mid-level cast of Hollywood leads; top-drawer Brits in support (Ralph Richardson, David Farrar); two great cinematographers (Rudolph Maté, directing since 1947, and the great Geoffrey Unsworth lensing); generous seaside location work; and a few thousand marching soldiers scenically hugging the shoreline for spectacle. The problem is that we only get so far in the quality department while missing the chance for campy fun without vocally dubbed over-muscled beefcake taking the leading roles. It’s a little dull and a lot dutiful. Still, not bad at telling the tale, a true legend we stick to with reasonable fidelity; only losing our way in some added-on straight romance for a disgraced Spartan whose eventual sacrifice can’t come soon enough to spare us from his emoting.
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: The film probably best watched before something like the artsy, eye-popping, but narrative-challenged 300/’06, Zach Synder’s OTT vision of the even better graphic novel by Frank Miller & Lynn Varley. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2011/07/300-2006.html
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