Incannerax What a waste of my time!!!

BlazeLime Strong and Moving!

Calum Hutton It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

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.

AaronCapenBanner Delmer Daves directed this western tale that stars Van Heflin as rancher Dan Evans, who is going through tough times because of an extended drought. He is witness to a stagecoach robbery lead by outlaw Ben Wade(played by Glenn Ford) who kills the driver. He is later caught and held for extradition to the town of Yuma, where he will stand trial. Dan accepts the job of guarding Ben in a hotel by a railway station, since he will be brought by train, but Wade's gang gets wind of this and plans a rescue attempt, while Wade tries to persuade Dan to let him go... Well-acted and directed film is a bit too talky and protracted, though the unexpected ending will certainly make viewer wonder. Flawed yet still worthwhile.