Alex Moss EditorIn its opening scene 3:10 To Yuma sets out its stall in a remarkably succinct and effective way. The good guys have flaws and the bad guys have heart. It’s a powerful lesson in screenwriting that within the opening 5 minutes you know exactly where everyone stands. Rarely in modern cinema does a story introduce characters with so much grey morals as 3:10 To Yuma and as a result the film grips you firmly in its character driven dissection of the West.
When Dan Evans (Van Heflin) witnesses the notorious outlaw Ben Wade (Glenn Ford) gun down not just a stagecoach driver but one of his own men he gives the whole encounter a wide berth. But, desperate for cash, Dan is hired to guard Wade after he’s captured to ensure he gets on the 3:10 train to Yuma to stand trial. As the two men go on the run, they begin to learn more about what makes the other tick and discover they might be different in their methods but their objectives are not dissimilar.
Upon its release, critic David Thompson said that Glenn Ford didn’t work in the role of Ben Wade because he wasn’t “nasty” enough. But watching it now it is for this exact reason that makes Ford in the role, and therefore the overall film, work so well. Because Wade isn’t supposed to be ‘nasty’, if anything he’s actually a decent man who has turned to crime because it tends to pay better than the cattle wrangling that the likes of Evans endure. So as Wade often looks at Evans’ family life with a tinge of regret, so Evans is tempted by bribes to let Wade go.
The result is an almost buddy movie that lends heavily into the morals we’ll bend to get that little further ahead in life. It’s very similar to Rober De Niro and Charles Grodin starrer Midnight Run but without the comedy element.
Director Delmer Daves has an innate ability to shoot in such a way as to continually raise tension. Two-shots that pit characters against each other while one of them is cuffed. High-shots looking down on a scene that implies someone is watching from afar. Almost every scene is imbued with a slow building tension, you worry that at any moment Wade might go for Evans’ gun and one of our protagonists gets gunned down as a result.
At a time when most westerns were being shot in colour 3:10’s black and white feels richly vibrant in bringing its morally grey world to life. The way Daves, especially in the finale, uses silhouettes to remind of the looming danger is riveting. The finale in particular constantly frames our protagonists against fences with bad guys lurking in the background, it’s a masterclass in making the audience feel like at any moment we could witness the demise of a character we’ve grown to love in spite of their flaws over the last 80 minutes.
But more than anything the film thrives thanks to the two central performances. Van Heflin brings a brilliant level of reluctant determination to the role. At first he’s the man who stays clear of confrontation but once he’s set his mind to something, and in particular seen how much his sons hero worship him, he finds a grit that is impossible not to root for. Ford, despite other critics’ opinions, is brilliant here. Charming yet ruthless, seductive but with a sense of genuine respect for the people around him. Throughout he gives a grin that is both frightening but also respectful. It’s a much more nuanced performance than most of this ilk and is easily the highlight of the film.
A Western that forgoes the strong silent types and instead gives us richly painted and fascinating characters who motives are clear but whose morals are changeable, 3:10 To Yuma is something of a forgotten classic that becoming part of the Criterion Collection will hopefully raise more awareness of.
3:10 To Yuma is available on 4K UHD and Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection now.
