3:10 to Yuma

Starring:Glenn Ford, Van Heflin, Felicia Farr, Leora Dana, Henry Jones, Richard Jaeckel, Robert Emhardt, Sheridan Comerate, George Mitchell (II), Robert Ellenstein, Ford Rainey, Guy Wilkerson, Richard Devon, Jerry Hartleben, Frank Hagney, Barry Curtis, Woody Chambliss, Dorothy Adams
Director: Delmer Daves
Studio: Sony Pictures
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Struggling rancher and family man Van Heflin sneaks captured outlaw Glenn Ford out from under the eyes of his gang and nervously awaits the prison train in this tight, taut Western in the High Noon tradition. Adapted from an Elmore Leonard story, this tense Western thriller is boiled down to its essential elements: a charming and cunning criminal, an initially reluctant hero whose courage and resolution hardens along the way, and a waiting game that pits them in a battle of wills and wits. Glenn Ford practically steals the film in one of his best performances ever: calm, cool, and confident, he's a ruthless killer with polite manners and an honorable streak. Director Delmer Daves (Broken Arrow) sets it all in a harsh, parched frontier of empty landscapes, deserted towns, and dust, creating a brittle quiet that threatens to snap into violence at any moment. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews:

will they make the 3:10 to Yuma?.......2007-06-05

I'm a Glenn Ford fan from way back & will watch just about anything with him in it. The thing I liked about Ford is that he was a man, macho even, if you will, without being in your face about it in some kind of fake and phony way like The Duke liked to be (from time to time), so it makes it kind of tough to give this only a three star rating.

But you know what? It's not a bad western at all, and Van Heflin is also pretty good in it (though the role he portrays here will easily remind you of the character he played in Shane.) Last, but not least: the actress who plays the barmaid lingers in your mind long after the film is over. Some nice dialogue is exchanged between her and Glenn Ford.

Unfortunately, not very realistic.......2007-02-27

Again, I am forced to serve as the lone reviewer who believes this film to be over-rated. I am definitely a Glenn Ford fan, but the idea that Ford simply waits for the train to come and take him away, while he and Van Heflin sidle down the street definitely didn't move me. I'm sorry but the rest of the film didn't ring true either. Richard Jaeckel gets killed in a weird, unrealistic way, and Henry Jones gets lynched somehow. The scenes with Heflin's wife are stagey and uncomfortably hard to believe.
I would rate both Jubal and Cowboy much higher, more realistic, especially Cowboy. Check out Cowboy first and then Jubal. Either of these are better than 3:10. Sorry, Delmer Daves/Glenn Ford fans.

"For Fate Travels Everywhere".......2006-12-01

The desolate backdrop of the old west , coupled with the wonderfully wistful title song (sung by Frankie Laine), gives this 1957 Columbia film an intriguing opening, one which the viewer cannot help but be absorbed. Van Heflin is Dan Evans, a rancher whose family is threatened by drought, and who is asked to bring notorious outlaw Ben Wade (Glenn Ford) to Yuma to stand trial, for a sum that will undoubtedly help his financial problems. Wade's gang is jailed after committing a stagecoach robbery and killing, but they escape, planning to rescue their leader, so Dan must keep one step ahead of them as he escorts the handcuffed Wade to the train station. Felicia Farr has a nice supporting role as the bar girl, Emmy, who falls for Wade - Ford's villain knows how to charm the ladies, so much so that almost every woman falls under his spell. His engaging manner with the girls - "What's a woman for, if you can't treat her right?" - his romantic way of telling stories, almost literally makes the female population swoon. Even Dan's wife Alice (Lenore Dana) is temporarily taken with Wade as he sits, handcuffed, at the dinner table, telling a tale of a girl that he knew with sea-green eyes. Heflin can't understand why women fall for this - after all, this guy is a outlaw and a killer. As the two men arrive at the station town, Wade's gang is ready to pounce and so Evans and Wade hide out in a hotel room, the bridal suite, no less, to wait. Ben then plays mind games with Dan, trying to escape, to beat him down. Although Alice wants him to save himself by allowing Wade to escape, Dan realizes that he has to do it - not only for the money, but because it's the right thing to do. The two guys form a strange bond, as Ben's gang closes in. Had things been different, they may have even liked each other. Wade allows Dan to get him onto the train, explaining that he doesn't like to owe anyone any favors. There is a tentative understanding between them as Dan waves to his wife from the moving train, while the final chords of the title tune and Frankie Laine's voice close this psychological, fascinating Western.

Ford's performance is just flawless; he embodies his redeemable bad guy effortlessly, whistling the title song throughout relatively quiet sequences. And he is cunning and manipulative, knowing what buttons to push, as he subtly degrades Dan for not being a good husband and father. Maybe it's my female perspective, but somehow I don't think I'd be immune to his penetrating gaze. After he and Farr engage in a passionate kiss, we see them a few moments later emerging from the back room of the saloon, fully clothed of course, but there can be no doubt of what had transpired between them. As he is taken away by Evans and the marshal, he promises to send her some pearls. Heflin gives just the right amount of selflessness, courage and compassion as the one who has to perform an unpleasant, risky task to support his family. These two underrated actors fill the screen, and it's hard to imagine any other leading men of the time bringing the protagonist and bad guy to life. An up and coming Richard Jaekel plays Wade's right hand, a fair-haired, cold-hearted sidekick who will stop at nothing to free his leader. He would later go on to have a succession of similar roles in several genres. Director Delmer Daves collaborated with Ford on three Westerns, all of which are gems.

The DVD: Transfer looks great, with a few extra trailers included: "Bite The Bullet", "Silverado" and "MacKenna's Gold". It's a dual sided disc so that the viewer can choose between full screen and widescreen.

"Though you've got no reason to go there, and there ain't a soul that you know there, when the 3:10 to Yuma whistles its sad refrain, take that train . . . . . . . "

Tense, well-directed with excellent performances and atmosphere... .......2006-11-06

Delmer Daves has certainly proved himself as one of Hollywood's most talented directors--at least in the Western genre... His "3:10 To Yuma" echoes "High Noon" in some respects, but to make frequent on the similarity misses the point of a very fascinating picture...

"3:l0 to Yuma" is a classic among suspense Westerns, a serious examination of the nature of heroism of an ordinary man in control of a dangerous outlaw... It is fundamentally a distinguished psychological drama played out in the claustrophobic setting of a hotel under mental and physical siege... The film deals with two entirely opposing characters locked together in an isolated room where Daves' camera moves ceaselessly on their course of action...

After a holdup and the killing of a coachman with a gold shipmen, Ford is captured in a saloon, where he was wasting his time in amorous advances with a lovely barmaid (Felicia Farr).

But how to hold him? For his gang, who have made their getaway, will most likely be back to claim him... Ford is sure of this, as his care-free indifference makes it easy to see... The cowed citizenry (echoes of the Zinneman picture) become equally certain... Someone has got to get him out of local circulation and then on to a train to Yuma where he can stand trial...

Who will undertake such task?

The best offer comes from an austere farmer motivated by a severe desperation... Struggling Heflin sees in the 200 dollars his last chance of salvation as his means of subsistence are too little, and the prolonged drought is killing his cattle... For him, there is no other option...

So Ford expects his gang to follow him, and eventually they do... Richard Jaeckel--'the man who slept en the sofa' was how everyone remembered him in this picture--is sinister evidence of discovery...

In a hotel room, therefore, they sweat it out... Van Heflin does most of the sweating, trying to cope, until the train is due, with a situation beyond his experience... For Van Heflin is not even a true professional, as Will Kane was in "High Noon" (who had somewhat similar train-waiting problems), but an amateur, having to deal with Ford's every physical and psychological ruse; having, in the last resort--finding some sort of moral obligation in the job--to resist temptation...

The outlaw, an intelligent man, continually seeks for a way that will give him his freedom, but becomes deeply fascinated by his 'keeper'. What kind of creature is this who toils on some miserably piece of land, cares so deeply for it, gets no fun at all out of life and seems so greatly incorruptible?

Whatever he is, he's the complete antithesis of Ford... You get the impression that the outlaw is confronted by a being from another planet... Who wouldn't be intrigued?

Van Heflin could so easily have repeated his leading homesteader role in Shane, but, in fact, he adds another layer to him... Ford, in one of his best performances, and he has given many, gets the utmost from his greatest gift... The women in the picture, Felicia Farr and Leorna Dana, make a solid contribution to its depth...

With a nice musical score, this great psychological Western draws its drama and power from the interaction of two excellent characters rather than gun blazing action...

One of the best B&W westerns ever made.......2006-09-19

Director Delmer Daves' 3:10 TO YUMA (1957, Columbia) ranks with John Ford's STAGECOACH (1939) and MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (1946) as one of the finest B&W adult westerns ever made. Told almost in real time, YUMA has Glenn Ford as an outlaw named Ben Wade being held hostage in a dusty old west town hotel room by farmer Dan Evans (Van Heflin), who needs the money he is getting for the job. That job is to guard Wade until the 3:10 to Yuma train arrives in town. But Halsted Welles' complex script, from an Elmore Leonard story, has fun in switching roles. Who is the good guy and who really is the bad guy? And should Evans take Wade's offer to give him triple the amount of money that sheriff Robert Emhardt is offering Evans to led him go free? After all, Evans is only in it for the money. This is very suspenseful storytelling. In a small cast, Felicia Farr is also excellent in a tiny role as a bartender.

I really love the look of 3:10 TO YUMA--Charles Lawton, Jr.'s dusty moderate wide-screen B&W photography, the sparce and empty town that seems to only have a saloon and hotel and train station, the real time editing, George Duning's ghostly music score, and Frankie Laine's unforgettably lonely theme song sung over the opening credits. This is a great western for adults parched for an intelligent and evocative one. I highly recommend it on DVD rental with a couple of cold beers.

Average customer rating:

will they make the 3:10 to Yuma?
Unfortunately, not very realistic
"For Fate Travels Everywhere"
Tense, well-directed with excellent performances and atmosphere...
One of the best B&W westerns ever made

3:10 to Yuma [Region 2]
Starring: Glenn Ford , Van Heflin , Felicia Farr , Leora Dana , and Henry Jones
Director: Delmer Daves
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B00005UWUG

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

will they make the 3:10 to Yuma?.......2007-06-05

Unfortunately, not very realistic.......2007-02-27

"For Fate Travels Everywhere".......2006-12-01

Tense, well-directed with excellent performances and atmosphere... .......2006-11-06

One of the best B&W westerns ever made.......2006-09-19

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