moonspinner55 Review of 3:10 to Yuma

3:10 to Yuma (1957)

Not a particularly deep western, but more complex than it had to be...

[7/10 · 18 September 2005]

Not so much a suspenseful western as it is a character-study between two men at odds: Glenn Ford is the cunning, quiet bank robber, Van Heflin the rancher who takes on the task of trying to bring Ford in. They don't exactly grow to be friends while holed up in a hotel room, but they do come to understand the complications of their situation. There's much dialogue which takes some time cutting to the heart of the matter, but director Delmer Daves gives the downbeat proceedings a romantic grandeur, and the look of the film is probably more striking than the story. Both Ford and Heflin are terrific, but this isn't a western with deep-seated emotional issues (there are psychological undertones which never quite surface). However, it is more involved and absorbing than one might expect, featuring evocative black-and-white cinematography by Charles Lawton Jr. and a stirring music score by George Duning. *** from ****