3:10 to Yuma | |
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theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Delmer Daves |
Produced by | David Heilweil |
Screenplay by | Halsted Welles |
Based on |
Three-Ten to Yuma 1953 short story by Elmore Leonard |
Starring |
Glenn Ford Van Heflin Felicia Farr |
Music by | George Duning |
Cinematography | Charles Lawton, Jr. |
Edited by | Al Clark |
Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date
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Running time
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92 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $1.85 million (US) |
3:10 to Yuma is a 1957 American Western film starring Glenn Ford and Van Heflin and directed by Delmer Daves. The film was based on a 1953 short story by Elmore Leonard. The film is about a drought-impoverished rancher who takes on the risky job of taking a notorious outlaw to justice. In 2012, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
The title song, "3:10 to Yuma", was by George Duning (music), with lyrics by Ned Washington and was sung at the beginning and end of the film by Frankie Laine. He recorded it for Columbia Records in 1957 (with the Jimmy Carroll Orchestra) and in 1960 (with the Johnny Williams Orchestra). It was also recorded by Sandy Denny in 1967. The film was remade in 2007, directed by James Mangold and starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale.
In the Arizona Territory of the 1880s, rancher Dan Evans (Van Heflin) and his young sons witness a stagecoach holdup. The boys want to try to intervene, but their father warns them that it would be useless to act when they are so heavily outnumbered. When the stagecoach driver overpowers one of the robbers and uses him as a human shield, Ben Wade (Glenn Ford), the leader of the gang, callously shoots both men dead.
Wade and his men stop at the saloon in nearby Bisbee, Arizona, posing as cowhands. Wade stays to seduce the pretty barmaid, Emmy (Felicia Farr). Contrary to his casual violence toward men, Wade shows real tenderness and affection for the lonely woman. He is captured, but his chief henchman Charlie Prince (Richard Jaeckel) gets away with the news. The townspeople fear what his men will do, so the town marshal decides to have two volunteers sneak the prisoner to Contention City to catch a train, the 3:10 to Yuma. Mr. Butterfield (Robert Emhardt), the stage-line owner, offers $200 for the dangerous job. Desperate for cash after three years of drought and feeling disappointed in himself for not being able to provide his family with a better life, Dan jumps at the opportunity. The only other man interested is the town drunk, Alex Potter (Henry Jones). When no one else steps forward, the marshal reluctantly accepts them.