of the battle, one battalion was retained to play both Greeks (about 450 soldier-extras) and Persians (some 650 soldiers). For closer compositions of the fighting and encampments, military extras were called (call-sheeted) by company-size or smaller units, in meeting the specific needs of the day's shooting schedule. Director of Photography Geoffrey Unsworth made good use of the tree groves, which lined the coastal plain aside the Limni Vouliagmeni lagoon, to cover for the obvious deficiency in the number of troops that would have been amassed on the Persian-side of the battle line. Originally developed as an Italian sword-and-sandal project, the cooperation and blessing of the Greek government allowed the producers to both finance and complete the production on a budget of 500,000 GBP () or approximately US$1,350,000 (), roughly twice for what most Italian peplum films were being made at the time. The 300 Spartans was the last film of Richard Egan's seven-year contract with 20th Century Fox. It was also the last film appearance of David Farrar, who then chose to retire from acting. Release In 1970, despite the attributed Cold War connotations, the film was dubbed in Russian and shown in the USSR. The film proved to be very popular, with 27.1 million total viewers. Other adaptions Comic book -Dell Movie Classic: Lion of Sparta (January 1963) Novelisation - John Burke - The 300 Spartans Signet, New York; First Printing edition (1962) Legacy Frank Miller's 1998 graphic novel 300 depicts the same Battle of Thermopylae. The comic artist saw The 300 Spartans as a boy and said "it changed the course of my creative life". In 2006, his book was adapted into a successful film of the same name directed by Zack Snyder. See also List of American films of 1962 List of historical drama films 300, 2006 film 300: Rise of an Empire, 2014 film References External links The 300 Spartans (1962) at DBCult Film Institute The 300 Spartans publicity photos at 300spartanwarriors.com 1962 films 1960s historical films American historical films 1960s English-language films Classical war films Battle of Thermopylae American epic films Epic films based on actual events Films set in ancient Greece Films shot in Greece Films set in the 5th century BC 20th Century Fox films Films directed by Rudolph Maté Siege films Films adapted into comics 1960s war adventure films Historical epic films Films scored by Manos Hatzidakis Cultural depictions of Leonidas I