*Rudolph Maté's The 300 Spartans (1962) and 50 similar items

Vintage original 11 x 14 in. US lobby card from the 1960s historical adventure drama, THE 300 SPARTANS, released in 1962 by 20th Century-Fox and directed by Rudolph Maté, in which a small army of Greeks, spearheaded by three hundred Spartans, do battle with the entire invading Persian Army. As indicated in the bottom border near the right corner, this is lobby card #7 from the set of 8 cards. The image depicts an interior scene of a group of dancing girls entertaining the room. It is unrestored in very fine- condition. At the time, this movie was considered the most violent movie in America. Comic Artist Frank Miller saw this movie as a boy and said: "it changed the course of my creative life." His graphic novel, "300," about the Battle of Thermopylae, was the basis for the film, 300 (2006). 300 was the last of three films 20th Century-Fox made in Greece in the period 1957-1961, when Fox was headed by Spyros Skouras of Greek origins. The other two films were Boy on a Dolphin (1957) and It Happened in Athens (1962). Like the "Athens" film, this picture was made with the support and cooperation of the royal Greek family at the time, extending the resources and logistics of the Royal Hellenic Army (i.e., supplying the troops as both Spartan and Persian soldiers). Locations were the village of Perchora and battle scenes were shot around the Vouliagmenis Lagoon (west of Athens, north of Corinth) which doubled for the original battle site of Thermopylae farther northeast. Rudolph Maté (born Rudolf Mayer; 21 January 1898 – 27 October 1964) was a Polish-Hungarian-American cinematographer, film director and film producer who worked as cameraman and cinematographer in Hungary, Austria, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, before moving to Hollywood in the mid 1930s.