3:10 to Yuma (1957)

Director:

Delmer Daves

Writers:

Elmore Leonard (story)
Halsted Welles (screenplay)

Release Date:

7 August 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Thriller | Western

Tagline:

The Lonesome Whistle of a Train... bringing the gallows closer to a desperado--the showdown nearer to his captor!

Plot:

After outlaw leader Ben Wade is captured in a small town, his gang continue to threaten. Small-time...

Plot Keywords:

Hotel | Outlaw | Rancher | Small Town | Train

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Glenn Ford	...	Ben Wade
Van Heflin	...	Dan Evans
Felicia Farr	...	Emmy
Leora Dana	...	Mrs. Alice Evans
Henry Jones	...	Alex Potter, town drunk
Richard Jaeckel	...	Charlie Prince
Robert Emhardt	...	Mr. Butterfield, Stage Line Owner
Sheridan Comerate	...	Bob Moons (Stagedriver's Brother)
George Mitchell	...	Bartender
Robert Ellenstein	...	Ernie Collins
Ford Rainey	...	Bisbee Marshal

Also Known As:

Three Ten to Yuma (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Netherlands:6 | South Africa:PG | Australia:G (DVD rating) | Australia:PG (original rating) | Finland:K-16 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #18496) | West Germany:12 | Argentina:Atp | UK:A (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Amerind Foundation - 2100 N. Amerind Road, Dragoon, Arizona, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

This film, along with the equally allegorical High Noon (1952), was a deciding factor in making Howard Hawks turn out Rio Bravo (1959), a return to simpler, less revisionist Westerns.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Wade is handcuffed and set in the stagecoach, his jacket is completely unbuttoned, and remains like this in all shots he appears, until he step down on the Dan's ranch. When he walks toward the Dan's house, his jacket is completely buttoned. Once inside the house, the jacket appears in part unbuttoned.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Mr. Butterfield, Stage Line Owner: Let me warn you - I am Mr. Butterfield; this is my line, these are my passengers. You bother any of them, I'll hound you from here to kingdom come.
Ben Wade: Mr. Butterfield, we don't mean to bother anybody - we just mean to get what's under that tarpaulin up there, that's all

Movie Connections:

Remade as 3:10 to Yuma (2007)

Soundtrack:

3:10 To Yuma

Striking Imagery

In the Old West, a meek family man (Van Heflin), already under pressure to save his cattle and homestead from a devastating drought, must now confront a ruthless, but smooth-talking, killer (Glenn Ford). Textured characterization of these two men, with seemingly opposite motivations, more than offsets a somewhat thin story, a credit both to the film's dialogue and to the acting.

The pace is slow and plodding. The tension builds gradually, as the clock counts down the hours and minutes to the arrival of the 3:10 p.m. train to Yuma (Arizona), that will end the standoff. The film's simple theme of good vs. evil evokes similar stories from the old Gunsmoke TV series of the 1950s.

The film gets off to a powerful start, with a stark B&W image of a distant stage coach moving across a barren desert landscape, as Frankie Laine wails, with affectation, the mournful theme song. It's one of the most striking opening scenes in cinema history.

While the dialogue and acting are more than competent, it's the visuals that really distinguish this film. The overall B&W imagery provided by cinematographer Charles Lawton, Jr. is almost in the same league as the B&W imagery from cinematographers Gregg Toland and Stanley Cortez.

Apart from the thin story, my only significant quibble with the film is its finale, which I found to be unrealistic, and unsatisfying. These issues aside, "3:10 To Yuma" is a technically well made western that thankfully eschews displays of gratuitous violence, and focuses instead on the psychology of human conflict.