A Masterpiece!

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Van Heflin is a hard-up small-time cattleman hired to take outlaw Glen Ford to the town of Contention and see that he boards the train to Yuma Territorial Prison, but never mind all that.Heflin's character carries one of those bland workable names like Dan Evans, but Glenn Ford, the prisoner, is called Ben Wade. My own scholarly research shows inarguably that no cowboy, outlaw, or gunslinger has ever carried the name of Wade, Clay, Matt, Yancey, or Ringo. As a matter of fact, the most common names among cowboys were Governeur, Montmorency, Noble. The details are in my manuscript, "Onomastics of the Post Civil War West", never published and never will be.Back to less important matters. It's a nicely structured narrative. Can the upright Heflin get the smirking Ford to Contention before Ford's gang of goons sees to his release? Heflin takes the job out of desperation. He needs the money badly because the draught is starving his stalwart wife and two brashly honest young sons. The viewer can relax as the clichés follow one another. The comic sidekick is murdered. Heflin's horde of enthusiastic supports drop out one by one as the odds against them become more clear.It's one of those westerns in which you have to admire the attentions of the studio barber and his team. Heflin: down at the hells rancher. Ford: gang leader on the lam. Yet -- even in choker close ups -- not a single whisker shows up, so that they look like Hollywood movie stars freshly groomed rather than dusty residents of the Wild West. It is, as I said, entertaining, enlivened by Ford's taunts and wisecracks. Some reviewers claim it's too slow. I would agree, but only in comparison to today's films, all of which resemble the inside of a whirling kaleidoscope.

I picked up the Criterion Bluray of 3:10 to Yuma. Man, this film has some of the best black and white imagery ever put on film. Some of the shots are just so beautiful to look at. It is a film that is worth watching for the imagery alone. Those picturesque wide open American landscapes untouched by human beings and taverns with unused beer mugs and whiskey glasses are beautifully evoked.Glen Ford is in top form as the smooth talking villain. I have never rooted for the villain more than in this film. I guess it helped that his good adversary is the impotent looking Van Helfin. The so called good guys are all depicted as a bunch of bumbling traitorous fools.Two blots on this otherwise fine western - the hotel at the end where they are cooped up together waiting for the train was an eyesore. It had some gaudy set pieces. And the finale was a real let down. It was too hard to believe.(8/10)

Here is a movie that seems to be a simple tale, but is really about character development and growth. Yet still it's full of tension and suspense.The film starts out with a sudden and unnecessary murder. On the surface, killer Ben Wade (Glenn Ford) doesn't betray a bit of conscience. But his trigger finger has prevented him from consummating an encounter with a lovely saloon maid (Felicia Farr). Wade comes to realize that his choices in life are adding up to a big, fat zero. The way he's heading, he'll never have a wife and kids like Dan Evans (Van Hefflin), the poor shlub who's risking his life to haul him in to the law. Neither man sees it coming, but each influences the other powerfully.Evans has turned bounty hunter because he needs the money. Wade seems to deeply appreciate women, and man, does he miss taking a woman to bed! The chemistry between Emmy and Wade is palpable and intense."What's a woman for if you don't treat her right?" Ford purrs to his would-be lady love.At points along the way, Wade is taunting, shaming, and threatening to the seemingly not-so-swift Evans, who politely answers all his questions until Wade mutters, "I'll bet (your wife) was a real beautiful woman before she met you." At a certain point, it's as if Evans keeps on keeping on not for the money anymore but for his own need to grow up and just stop taking crap. It's his own growing a backbone that captures Wade's attention and spurs his own self-sacrificing turnaround -- even though it leads straight to the gallows. Like a better-known western, "Shane," that has a lot more going on than initially meets the eye, "3:10 to Yuma" captures the struggle between bullies of the world and plain old folks who just want to live their lives -- folks who'd rather not fight, but will do battle if there's no other way.I heartily recommend this film to anyone with an interest in psychological development and spiritual redemption.Don't overlook the brief funeral scene, with its solitary dog atop a plain wooden coffin. There's poetry here, amid the dust, craggy rocks, cacti, and big open sky.Based on a story by Elmore Leonard, this film far transcends its ordinary surroundings.

Everything about this film is great. One of maybe half a dozen great westerns. Delmer Daves direction and Charles Lawton Jr.'s cinematography bring a perfect screenplay to life. My favorite part might be the interlude with Ben Wade (Glenn Ford at his best)and Emmy (Felicia Farr) in the saloon. Their chemistry is perfect. Then there is beautiful long shot of Emmy standing looking forlorn in the middle of the empty dusty street watching the stage coach taking Wade away. In the distance behind her and off to the left, Mr. Butterfield watches. Later there is a nice contrasting scene involving Dan Evens (Van Heflin) wife. A pleasure to watch solid straight forward film making.