Toth Database - Cinema 

 Three hundred of the week

Plot

During the winter of 1940-1941, fascist Italy to Greece right after the attack, Italian troops are deployed on the Greek-Albanian front. In this area the seventh company of an Alpine Regiment, composed of 300 soldiers and commanded by a captain, is sent into the front line to defend a mountain pass that is a cornerstone of the essential. During his time on the front lines of developing the human and personal stories of the various officers and soldiers that are part of the company. Subjected to numerous and violent attacks by Greek troops, the Unit manages to resist despite heavy losses and the difficulties of supply. When obtaining the change to get back behind the lines, only 19 of the three hundred men that made up the unit have managed to survive and they will have to render military honors to their captain, died in combat.

Film notes

Country of origin: Italy

Year: 1943

Duration: 84 min

Color: Black/White

Audio: Sound

Genre: War

Director: Mario Baffico

Subject: Mario Baffico, Mario Corsi

Screenplay: Mario Baffico, Alessandro De Stefan 

Producer: Luciano Doria

Production company: Nettunia S.A. Istituto Luce

Distribution: E.N.I.C.

Photography: Piero Wards

Editing: Mario Sansoni

Music: Gianfranco Rivoli

Notes

The choice of the production was, for economic reasons, do not use professional actors. For this the protagonists were identified within the various Alpine regiments, where they were selected through a series of auditions the military deemed most appropriate to address the camera. At the end of the selection and production were available to the equivalent of several units plus two batteries of artillery and military aircraft.The work, begun at Cinecittà in May 1942, then lasted all summer and took place mainly outdoors first in Sydney and then, when it came to shoot a few scenes on the glacier at the foot of Mont Blanc.

With the three hundred of the seventh ended production of the "Beethoven" who had previously made only two other films and for this film was flanked by the Istituto Luce, also because part of the film consists from clips from documentaries filmed by the operators of the "light" on the front lines of the conflict. As has been said all those who took part in the making of the film weren't, except one, professional actors but real, of which many were veterans from that same Greek front in which was set the story. After having participated in the filming of the movie, many of these soldiers, officers and soldiers, were intended to supplement the ranks of the ARMIR in Russia where, as some commentators, many of them never returned.