Black & White World

3:10 to Yuma (1957)

Delmer Daves’s moody, brooding character study has more in common with the best film noirs of its era that most westerns.  Not surprising, perhaps, once you learn that the script is based on an Ellmore Leonard story.  The Western genre in general gets a bad rap, maybe deservedly so for all the cowboys ‘n’ injuns clones that were spawned throughout Hollywood’s history, but at its best, the Western is an allegory, and a singularly American one.  The frequent recurring themes of drifters and loners, self-reliance, the lone man standing against many, taking the law into one’s own hands—these are all central to Westerns, and whether they’re accurate or not, they’ve become part of the American mythology.

3:10 to Yuma covers all these areas, but what I like about this movie most is that unlike many Westerns (another reason this genre is maligned), the hero isn’t Inherently Good and the antagonist isn’t Evil Personified.  The characters are drawn in shades of grey.  The Good Guy has his faults and the Bad Guy has his vulnerabilities.  The strength of the film really rides on the shoulders of Van Heflin and Glenn Ford, since the viewer spends most of the movies just watching these two guys talk.  Fortunately both actors are up to the task.  I haven’t made my love for Van Heflin any secret, but this is one of the few films I really like Glenn Ford in.

I haven’t seen the remake yet.  I’d be curious to see how they solve the biggest problem in the movie, namely the final scene.  In my first review of this film I delved into some spoilers of why the ending doesn’t work for me.  If you’re interested and not afraid of spoilers, you can read that here.

1. I’ve seen both movies. I have a review of the new one on my blog I think. It’s very weak in many of the same ways the original is. The new 3:10 has an even more outlandish ending in my opinion. Although neither are close to my favorite westerns, I’d rate the original higher.

   It’s refreshing to see you mention westerns getting a bad rap. I think they are a unique movie artform with a mythology all their own. I love them as much as film noir or any other genre. They’ve been cheapened by crummy TV shows just like detectives have been, and virtually wiped out, but to me the great ones stand up well to any movie made.

   Posted by  on  09/01  at  12:29 AM

2. Westerns are as misunderstood as country music.  They are way more subversive than they appear.  Only sci-fi makes better allegories.

   Posted by  on  09/01  at  12:54 AM

3. I think the ending of the original is just fine, but yeah, in the remake they blow it completely.

   Posted by  on  09/02  at  03:00 PM
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