YOM Blog Review: 3:10 to Yuma

I recently watched the original 3:10 to Yuma from 1957, which I have to admit was much better than I expected it to be. Going into it, I thought I was going to be watching an hour and a half of gunslinging, which is perfectly fine if you're in the mood for it.

Of course, there is a fair amount of shooting; this is a western after all. But what this movie has that makes it so unique is wonderfully detailed and well-crafted characters placed into situations where they rely not just on guns but pointed words and psychological intimidation.

Taking place in Arizona in the late 19th century, the story follows hard-working, stoic rancher Dan Evans played by Van Heflin, who agrees to help a posse capture gang leader Ben Wade, played by Glenn Ford. Evans and his two sons witness a robbery by Wade's gang, which results in the driver of the seized stagecoach being killed and Evans' cattle being stolen.

After the posse captures Wade, Evans - lured by the prospect of a reward that will help his family financially - agrees to escort the gang leader to jail on the 3:10 train to Yuma via Contention City. However, Wade's gang quickly becomes smart to the plan and vows to get its leader back. Once the posse brings Wade to Contention City, Evans stands guard with the villain in a hotel room.

This is where the movie really gets good because this is essentially where the acting sets in. Ford (who in many reviews and round-ups of this movie is depicted as being cast "against type") is excellent in these scenes, presenting Wade as both dastardly and charming at the same time. Wade is both clever and villainous, but as these scenes progress, Ford begins to peel away the layers to reveal a human being with dreams and the understanding of a moral code. At one point, he might try to persuade Evans to give up the train expedition, citing its futility, and join his gang; at another point, he might lament that he's never been able to settle down and find himself a wife.

The whole time in the hotel room seems like a stand-off of sorts, but without shooting. It's a stand-off of patience and wit. And Heflin (definitely an underrated and largely forgotten-about actor due to his everyman looks and subsequent everyman roles) balances Ford perfectly, with Evans only speaking once he's calculated his words precisely. Evans rarely loses his patience and keeps his mind fixated on the goal - getting Wade on that train - even after his friends and allies either get killed or back out due to the danger at hand.

What makes the relationship between Wade and Evans so interesting is the level of respect that is depicted between the two of them. Although the situation they are in undoubtedly forces them to be foes, these are both people with strong wills and minds who understand each other well. Wade understands that Evans is doing this for the good and respect of his family. Evans understands Wade must make a living and would normally not get involved if the reward and his family's respect for him were not in question.

This level of respect is what makes the ending seem so rich. Left alone to chaperone Wade to the train, Evans is faced by gang members shooting at him from all directions. Just as Evans is cornered, Wade opts to forgo his gang and be taken on the train with Evans. As he says, he wanted to save Evans' life as Evans had saved his life back at the hotel when the brother of the driver shot at the beginning tried to kill him. And, anyway, as Wade said, "That's all right, I've broken out of Yuma before." As they look on from the train, there is a sense of calm, one you would expect from Evans (who sees his wife waving to him on the side of the railroad tracks) but wouldn't expect from a guy who is going to jail.

Interest to Young Fans

The first and most obvious angle is that the movie was recently remade into a big-time blockbuster with Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. As I mentioned in a previous post, pairing remakes with their originals is a good way of getting people into old movies.

Obviously, westerns are not for everybody especially nowadays, given that only a handful of legitimate westerns have been made over the past 20 years (Unforgiven, The Assassination of Jesse James...). However, this movie is different from most, taking a more psychological and character-focused push, more in the lines of High Noon or The Searchers. In fact, 3:10 to Yuma is often bucketed together with High Noon as both represent a man facing a difficult problem by himself. Once you get through this one, I'd suggest trying those as they are both classics and on the AFI's Top 100 Movies list.

How to Get into Old Movies...Part 8

Part 8: Find a Local Classic Film Festival


I am lucky enough to live close to West Orange, NJ, where the arts council has been hosting its own classic film festival for the past few years. Unfortunately, I just recently learned about this great program but have been lucky enough to take advantage of it this year.

The first film of the festival was The Wild Bunch, one I had previously seen and only moderately liked. It's hard for me to not like a movie with William Holden, possibly my favorite classic movie actor, in it. However, it's a movie slightly grating for the abundance of gore and mostly unlikable characters. After the film, Stephen Whitty, the film critic for The Star-Ledger, spoke about the film's significance, filling in gaps for the audience using anecdotes and how-it-was-made trivia.

I, as well as my girlfriend who doesn't particularly like westerns, was able to walk away with a newfound appreciation for the film.

Granted this isn't always feasible, depending on where you live (I say this because I feel most occur in big cities), but finding a local classic film festival is an excellent way to get into films. Usually, the film choices are multifaceted, varying from genre to genre, color to black-and-white and American classics to foreign. This is perfect because it opens the viewer up to a wide array of film types.

Usually, there is an expert - sometimes a local film professor, historian or critic - available before or after a film to discuss it and its relevance to cinema and society. As I mentioned in my post about film classes, it is nice for one's appreciation of a film to have somebody further explain the significance of certain parts about movies, showing you things you might not have understood even if you've already viewed the film.

One great thing about festivals is that the people there are fellow fans excited to both see the movies and talk to you about them, another forum for piquing somebody's interest in classic films.

A few ways to find a classic film festival:

• Turner Classic Movies has been hosting a classic film festival for the past few years, although you'd have to drop some cash to get there as it is usually located in Los Angeles and fairly expensive
• Check out local municipalities' arts councils
• See if any local colleges host any festivals
• Other film festivals - ones that don't necessarily focus on classic films - might feature a classic or two
• Check out the offerings at small-town, independent theaters, especially ones that play obscure movies, such as indies, foreign films and, yes, older movies

How to Get into Old Movies...Part 7

Part 7: Start with Christmas Movies

For anybody who is not familiar with the plot of It's a Wonderful Life, there is a simple question: how?

I obviously don't know the numbers behind this, but I am safe with making the argument that most Americans have probably seen this Christmas classic. Even if they have never seen fragments of the movie, it's still a tale that is largely inescapable as it is often parodied in just about every television show imaginable; basically, if a show exists long enough, at least one of its Christmas episodes will involve a parody of It's a Wonderful Life.

The same can be said for A Christmas Carol which, in addition to being ripe for TV parody, has the added bonus of being a literary classic. Additionally, what makes the Dickens classic so unique is that it has more than a dozen movie versions (from full-length to TV movies, both live-action and animated), ranging from the first sound adaptation in 1935 to the well-known George C. Scott TV version to the family classic The Muppet Christmas Carol.

Thanks to these two classics and the national obsession America has over Christmas and its many facets - one of the larger ones being Christmas movies - it is very easy to introduce Christmas movies as an into to classic movies. What makes it so easy is that it is much more culturally appealing to a young, possibly nostalgic young person to use the phrase, "Let's watch a Christmas movie," instead of "Let's watch an old movie."

Of course, a handful of new full-length feature Christmas movies are released in theaters each year, not to mention the multiple straight-to-video and Hallmark flicks that are produced annually. However, when we think of Christmas movies, our minds don't usually run straight to recent movies (there are a few notable exceptions including Elf, Home Alone and Scrooged), such as Fred Claus or Four Christmases. They often go to the two I mentioned up top and the likes of Miracle on 34th Street, White Christmas, Holiday Inn, The Shop Around the Corner, Christmas in Connecticut, The Bishop's Wife and countless others (including the Rankin-Bass collection, a beast too enormous to touch in this post). And if needed, you can always use updated versions of classic movies to introduce classics, such as using the Denzel Washington-starring The Preacher's Wife to introduce The Bishop's Wife.

From there, you can jump into other movies directed by certain directors or starring certain actors. For instance, jumping from It's a Wonderful Life to another Frank Capra classic like You Can't Take it With You isn't that much of a leap.

Most importantly, though, don't underestimate the power of Christmas. You can easily coax somebody into watching a movie if you say it's about Christmas. So feel free to use it. Tell young people about a movie where a squirrel helps a poor family, they might be partially curious. Tell them it's a Christmas movie and it's called A Christmas Wish (sometimes The Great Rupert), and you've just earned yourself a viewer.

How to Get into Old Movies...Part 6

Part 6: Take a Film Class

Many high schools and most colleges offer at least some sort of film class. The larger a college's film department, the more diverse these classes happen to be.

Sometimes when we watch movies, especially ones we're not all that into, we might just get up and leave. Or we might not try all that hard to pay attention.

Although I would never encourage forcing anybody to watch anything a la Clockwork Orange, there is something to be said about being sat down and shown a movie as opposed to voluntarily watching something. Although I think you should watch something because you want to watch in, sometimes we gain interest in something without expecting to or via somebody else's suggestions.

Plus, especially in the case of college courses, the professor is usually somebody who knows the ins and out of just about every scene and can tell you the symbolism behind certain aspects of movies, as well as how certain movies fit into the pantheon of film history.

Film classes can also help you revisit movies you had seen once and give you the opportunity to see or experience certain things you either didn't notice or didn't fully appreciate the first time around. In my own case, I remember watching The Searchers on my own and then watching it again a few months later in a film class. I liked it a lot the first time around, but absolutely loved it by the end of the second viewing, boosted greatly after my professor pointed out the undertones of Ethan's (John Wayne's character) unspoken, yet subtly suggested love for his sister-in-law.

Since this series of posts is all about getting other people interested in classic movies, I would suggest taking the class with a friend or suggesting that he or she take it with you.

How to Get into Old Movies...Part 5

Part 5: Show Them Those Iconic Images

When I was in college, I always wondered how many of the people with Breakfast at Tiffany's posters had ever actually seen the movie. Of those who had actually seen the movie, I further wondered how many had ever actually read the original short story by Truman Capote, a dreary and less romanticized version of the eccentric drifter Holly Golightly.

Regardless, whether they have seen the movie or not, there are probably very few people who don't recognize that iconic image of Audrey Hepburn holding that long cigarette.

Due to that recognition, a movie, such as Breakfast at Tiffany's, is a perfect entrance into classic movies. From there, you can take on some of Hepburn's other work, like Sabrina or Love in the Afternoon. You could even go the road (much) less traveled and check out a flick with George Peppard, such as How the West Was Won.

There are many movies like this that boast iconic images that would be worth checking out, such as James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause, Humphrey Bogart telling Ingrid Bergman to get on the plane at the end of Casablanca or Cary Grant being chased by a plane in North By Northwest.

How to Get into Old Movies...Part 4

Part 4: Revisit Filmographies of Recently Deceased Actors

Considering the recent death of Dennis Hopper and my old How to Get Into Old Movies post regarding using actors' later filmographies to get people used to older movies, I figured the two could easily be hooked into another tip: honor the recently deceased stars of the past by taking a look at the movies that made them famous.

A good place to start is usually Turner Classic Movies, which, depending on the star level of the recently deceased actor, will usually reprogram a whole night of movies in recognition of the actor.

How to Get into Old Movies...Part 3

Part 3: Compare Old Movies to Their Current Day Remakes

Whenever anybody brings up seeing movies that he or she believes everybody should see, my girlfriend often makes the joke that there are only two movies she has ever seen: [random movie] and The Women from 1939. This always makes me think that if the cinematic powers that be were willing to pony up a remake to The Women (not a knock at all), it's amazing that just about every classic movie hasn't been remade in some way, shape or form.

That being said, it is amazing how many old movies - both great and not so great - have been remade or aped in some way. Some have been shot by shot, such as the 1998 Psycho with Vince Vaughn. Some have updated the effects and made the story more topically relevant to the current state of the world, like 2008's The Day the Earth Stood Still. Some have merely copied the historical topic, such as 2006's 300 and 1962's The 300 Spartans.

Now not many people realize that many of these new movies have cinematic ancestors. Therefore, this could be a perfect opportunity to usher in an old movie or two for a friend.

If your friend is a female, I would suggest watching the 1994 version of Little Women, alongside either the 1933 version with Katherine Hepburn or the 1949 version with Elizabeth Taylor and Janet Leigh. For guys, I might suggest last year's version of The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, along with the Walter Matthau original. If your student is a little younger, try comparing last year's Race to Witch Mountain with the Disney original Escape to Witch Mountain.