by Hal Erickson
synopsis
Desperate for money, frontier rancher Van Heflin holds outlaw Glenn Ford at gunpoint, intending to collect the $200 reward. While both men await the train to Yuma that will escort Ford to prison, the cagey outlaw offers Heflin $10,000 if he'll set Ford free. The rest of the film is a sweat-inducing cat-and-mouse game between captive and captor, interrupted with bursts of violence from both Ford's gang (commandeered by Richard Jaeckel) and the vacillating townsfolk. 3:10 to Yuma is one of the best of the character-driven "psychological" westerns of the 1950s. Its only flaw is Ford's unconvincing character turnaround towards the end.
characteristics
- High Historical Importance
- Bandit
- Outlaw [Western]
- Gunman
- Gunslinger
- Righting The Wronged
- Bounty
- Reward
- Cat-and-mouse
- Captive
- Captor
- Captivity
- Train [locomotive]
- Rancher
- Heroic Mission
/_derived_jpg_q90_600x800_m0/310toYuma1957-Still1.jpg?partner=allmovie_soap)
/_derived_jpg_q90_600x800_m0/310toYuma1957-Still2.jpg?partner=allmovie_soap)