3:10 TO YUMA (1957, USA, 92m, PG) ****
Western
dist. Columbia Pictures; pr co. Columbia Pictures Corporation; d. Delmer Daves; w. Halsted Welles (based on a story by Elmore Leonard); pr. David Heilweil; ph. Charles Lawton Jr. (B&W | 1.85:1); m. George Duning; ed. Al Clark; ad. Frank Hotaling.
cast: Glenn Ford (Ben Wade), Van Heflin (Dan Evans), Felicia Farr (Emmy), Leora Dana (Mrs. Alice Evans), Henry Jones (Alex Potter), Richard Jaeckel (Charlie Prince), Robert Emhardt (Mr. Butterfield), Sheridan Comerate (Bob Moons), George Mitchell (Bartender), Robert Ellenstein (Ernie Collins), Ford Rainey (Bisbee Marshal).
This excellent psychological Western sees Dan Evans (Heflin), a drought-plagued Arizona rancher, volunteer to take captured stagecoach robber and murderer Ben Wade (Ford) from Bisbee to Contention City, where the criminal will be put aboard the 3:10 train to Yuma for his trial. Accompanied only by the town drunk, Alex Potter (Jones), Dan holes up in a hotel with his prisoner awaiting the train, whilst Wade’s gang awaits their opportunity to free their boss. The film is largely a battle of wits as Ford looks to subvert Heflin during the wait for the train. These two-handed scenes are marvellously played by the two actors building plenty of tension. Daves handles the material with great skill supported by his technical team, with notably evocative black and white photography from Lawton Jr. and an understated score by Duning. Remade in 2007.
