Tedfoldol
everything you have heard about this movie is true.
Onlinewsma
Absolutely Brilliant!
ChanFamous
I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.
padrelaw
In the 1950s, westerns were churned out by the studios to fill those Saturday matinée seats and sell that popcorn. Most followed one of the set patterns of American mythology: Bad Man Turns Good, Returning Civil War Soldier Re-Establishes Himself With Town and Wife, etc."3:10 To Yuma" uses the familiar "Lone Man Not Especially Courageous Against Overwhelming Odds" story to great effect. Glenn Ford is the "bad guy," but not an especially evil one, and Van Heflin is the over-worked, hardscrabble farmer whom life has just passed by. He sees the possibility of financial redemption when a volunteer is needed to take the stagecoach robber Glenn Ford to the train (guess what time the train arrives).Although low-budget, there are several factors which raise this film above B-movie level: the acting is of course very good, the direction weaves a simple narrative, the photography is unobtrusive yet manages to heighten the tension with angles and close-ups, and the script converts a good story into a edge-of-the-chair thriller.One need not be a fan of "westerns" to enjoy this thoroughly engrossing encounter with the genre. In my mind, it lies with "Searchers," "Rio Bravo," "Stagecoach," "High Noon," and the under- appreciated "Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" in the troposphere of cowboy-and-horse films.
grantss
A decent western. Not great - far too many implausibilities in the plot, especially the ending - but reasonably entertaining nevertheless.It is the constant battle, moral and mental, between outlaw Ben Wade (played by Glenn Ford) and his captor Dan Evans (played by Van Heflin) that make this movie interesting. So many opportunities for Evans to do something different, something unethical, but will he take them?It is the performances of Ford, especially, and Heflin that make this movie watchable.I enjoyed the 2007 remake more. Wasn't brilliant, but flowed better and while it had some plot holes and implausibilities, they weren't as bad as in the 1957 movie.
MartinHafer
Years and years ago, I saw "3:10 to Yuma" and loved it. However, seeing it about 30 years later, I am struck how many illogical plot elements there are in the film--too many to make this a truly memorable western.When the film begins, Ben Wade (Glenn Ford) and his gang are holding up the stage. In order to make this easier, they've stampeded some of a local rancher's cattle into the path of the wagon. Dan Evans (Van Heflin) can't do anything to stop the men from doing this with his cattle, as it's just him and his two small sons against a dozen vicious killers. Additionally, Evans is a pragmatic guy and doesn't want to be a hero.Later, after Wade is captured, the local Marshall wants to take the gang leader into Yuma to be tried for murder and robbery. However, there's a problem--the town is minuscule and he needs help. One of the guys he enlists is Evans. While Evans is hesitant to risk his life, he's about to lose his ranch--and the reward money could sure help him. So far, this is a very good western. The dilemma is interesting and Evans is an interesting sort of anti-hero. However, as the film progresses many problems are very noticeable. First and foremost, Wade tries several times to escape and even nearly kills several people in the process. So why not just shoot him?! After all, if a prisoner tries to escape, you shoot him. And, with his gang of thugs wandering about, you really cannot see why they didn't kill the murderer. It isn't like there's any doubt that he is a killer-- he admits it and was witnessed doing the killing. So why allow him to repeatedly try to escape and threaten to have the various posse members killed?! Kill the jerk!! Later, when his gang does arrive and they start killing off the posse members, STILL Evans doesn't shoot Wade...and you wonder why!! To make matters worse, the final scene shows Evans hopelessly outnumbered and surrounded--and then Wade does something that makes sense only to a script writer!! No criminal in the history of mankind would ever have done what Wade then did...NONE! Highly illogical.
runamokprods
The western meets noir in this intelligent minor classic. A psychological drama that is much more about the battle of souls and the slippery nature of good and evil than about gunplay and chase scenes. Led by a great performance by Glenn Ford, going way against type as a low key, but highly charismatic, even sexy bad guy, who its hard to hate. And he's almost matched by a jittery Van Heflin as a down-on-his-luck rancher who agrees to bring the very dangerous Ford to the titular train to be taken to prison, Heflin doesn't take the job out of any great moral belief, but just because he desperately needs the $200 to have some shot of keeping his cattle alive and his family fed. Beautifully shot, keeping the open feel of the south-west for the first act, the real climax of the film is a 30 minute set piece in a hotel room as Ford tries to gently, almost comically, bribe and woo Heflin into letting him go, promising far more money than the $200 Heflin is being paid. And we see just how tempting that offer is to Heflin, and how confusing doing the "right" thing can be. A truly tense film. Whatever its flaws or dated touches fade beneath its great images, sly dialogue, forceful direction, complex characters, and 1st rate acting.
