Silver Screen Influences: 3:10 To Yuma (1957)

Elmore Leonard was a master. He wrote so many great books and short stories and an amazingly high number of them were made into great movies. Although I love his crime novels and the movies and TV series based on them—like Justified, Jackie Brown (Rum Punch), Out Of Sight, Get Shorty and even the newest adaption, Life Of Crime (The Switch)—my favorites are still his Westerns. Hombre, The Tall T (The Captives), Valdez Is Coming, and the Elmore Leonard scripted Joe Kidd are some of my favorites but the top of my list has got to be the original 1957 3:10 To Yuma. Masterfully shot, beautifully scored and amazingly acted, 3:10 is a great movie.

Let’s just get down to it. Glenn Ford’s performance is a masterpiece. He’s evil, he’s cunning and he’s ruthless but in spite of that he’s still one of the most charming and likable characters ever put on screen. Glenn Ford’s Ben Wade is the devil incarnate. The interplay between Ford and Van Heflin’s Dan Evans is tense and complex and has yet to be matched in any movie since. There are only two women in 3:10 but both Leora Dana and Felicia Farr are strong and beautiful and can stand their own.

3:10 To Yuma is a rough adaptation of Leonard’s short story but with all of the added backstory and changed names, the spirit of his voice still comes through. Aside from the more obvious influences to my writing—like the despicably likable bad guy—my favorite takeaway was inspired by Ford’s story about a sea captain’s daughter from San Francisco who, “… had the greenest eyes. I used to look into them and they’d just change colors. They’d get all fiery, you know, all the colors of the sea …” Abigail Gibson from my TEMPERANCE TRILOGY has big green eyes because Ben Wade convinced me that they should be.

The 2007 remake of 3:10 is good. It was shot well and the performances are fine but it simply can’t hold a candle to the original. Buy 3:10 to Yuma. Don’t hesitate, just go buy it. And don’t settle for the DVD. The Criterion Collection Blu-ray is amazingly remastered and should be the only way you watch it.

3:10 To Yuma (1957)

Director: Delmer Daves

Writers: Elmore Leonard, Halsted Welles

Stars: Gelnn Ford, Van Heflin, Felicia Farr, Leora Dana

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