3:10 to Yuma

3:10 to Yuma, Tense and extremely well-acted Western about a farmer (Van Heflin) who finds himself in desperate need of cash so he volunteers to transport a notorious criminal (Glenn Ford) to a train station. 3:10 TO YUMA is one of the best known Westerns from this era and it’s easy to see why. Sure, there are those old-school moments about the good guy versus the bad one but it has an added touch of psychological drama and this here is where the film really stands on its own. There’s no doubt that there are many great scenes in the picture but things really start to pick up when Heflin and Ford are inside a hotel room where they do nothing but talk about what’s going to happen when the farmer goes to transport him to the station. This is when the super editing kicks into high gear as the farmer slowly starts to become panicked over what he’s gotten himself into. There are some really striking scenes in this picture including a very dramatic one dealing with the fate of one of the helpers, which I won’t ruin here. Another great scene happens early on during a stagecoach robbery where we get to see how menacing the Ford character can be. This here is followed up with a scene where Ford comes onto a local woman. You’d think a scene like this would be out of place but it actually works just to show that this villain also has a charming side. The performances by the two leads are certainly wonderful. Heflin has never been better as the good-hearted farmer who needs to prove to himself that he can support his family no matter what it takes. The scenes where the farmer’s tension starts to crack has the actor really shining. Ford, usually a good guy, does wonders being able to switch things up and that wonderful voice of his really adds to the psychological drama as he starts to torture the farmer. The film certainly borrows from HIGH NOON but that doesn’t hurt things too much. The film is certainly a gem from the genre.