#650) Red River (1948)

#650) Red River (1948)

OR “Where’s The Beef?”

Directed by Howard Hawks

Written by Borden Chase and Charles Schnee. Based on the Saturday Evening Post story by Chase.

Class of 1990

The Plot: In a semi-fictional take on the first cattle drive along the Chisholm Trail from Texas to Kansas, “Red River” focuses on Thomas Dunson (John Wayne), a cattle rancher who becomes broke after the Civil War. With no other choice, Dunson leads his herd and a band of volunteers hundreds of miles to Missouri to sell his cattle for the best price. As the conditions worsen on the journey, Dunson becomes more tyrannical and cruel to his men. This causes a major discord between Dunson and his adopted son Matthew Garth (Montgomery Clift), who believes they will have better luck if they reroute to Kansas. And behind the camera, Howard Hawks takes his first stab at the Western genre.

Why It Matters: The NFR writeup is mostly a rundown of the film’s talent, as well as a surprising amount of space devoted to the plot details from the film’s opening 10 minutes. A more appreciative essay by filmmaker and distributor Michael Schlesinger gives “Red River” its due.

But Does It Really?: I liked “Red River” better than other Westerns on this list, but that’s not saying much. As a film experience, it’s entertaining and holds your interest thanks to the A+ talent involved behind the scenes. As a significant American film, however, it never gets brought up as often as you’d think it would within the canon of Hawks’ filmography and/or classic Westerns. There’s a generation of film historians (Your Peter Bogdanovich-es, for example) who love “Red River”, but as the years go on that admiration hasn’t really been passed down. I’m gonna put “Red River” in the “minor classic” category: a memorable movie that has started to get lost in the shuffle of classic films.

Wow, That’s Dated: Yes, there are instances of the kind of misogyny towards women and racism towards Indigenous people you should expect from Westerns, especially those of this era, but…um…yeah I got nothing.

Title Track: [In Comic Book Guy voice] Technically they do not cross Red River in this movie, but rather the Prairie Dog fork, in which the Red River merges with both the Palo Duro Creek and Tierra Blanca Creek. Worst. Title. Ever.

Seriously, Oscars?: One of the highest grossing films of 1948, “Red River” received two Oscar nominations. The film’s nods for Story and Editing lost to, respectively, “The Search” and “The Naked City“.

Other notes 

  • Right off the bat, there’s a credit that intrigues me: Co-Director Arthur Rosson. I can’t imagine a titan like Howard Hawks sharing his title with anyone, but Rosson (the film’s second unit director) impressed Hawks with his shooting of the cattle drive sequences and this was Hawks’ way of thanking him.
  • “Red River” was Howard Hawks’ first western, but he injects a bit of his screwball comedy instincts into the movie’s DNA, with its comic relief supporting characters and overlapping dialogue. Speaking of comic relief: A reminder that Walter Brennan’s character is named Nadine Groot. Does this make “Red River” part of the MCU?
  • The film’s cinematography by Russell Harlan is the kind of impressive, expansive vistas associated with the genre, though it makes the handful of rear projection shots stick out like a sore thumb.
  • Wow, John Wayne actually did walk like that?
  • We meet Matt as a young boy played by Mickey Kuhn, who is so miscast as young Monty Clift I didn’t realize they were supposed to be the same person until it was mentioned by the other characters later on.
  • Of course Montgomery Clift is good in this, but even more impressive is the fact that “Red River” was his first movie! (though “The Search” was released first) It’s pretty impressive watching a 25 year old stage actor give John Wayne a run for his money. In fact, having an actor as skilled as Clift kinda highlights how little John Wayne is doing in this film (though I’m in the minority in this opinion). In an unintentional battle between Wayne’s untrained naturalism and Clift’s Method approach, Clift easily outacts the Duke. Side note: Monty kinda looks like a young Tom Cruise, doesn’t he? With a bit of Peter Gallagher thrown in?
  • John Ireland is quite good as Matt’s rival Cherry Valance (better utilized here than in “All the King’s Men“). In his first scene Cherry and Matt handle and admire each other’s guns at length, which begs the question: What in the name of “Brokeback Mountain” is going on here? There’s enough gay subtext in the scene to make Gore Vidal blush. Hawks denied anything intentional, but come on. “Can I see it? Maybe you’d like to see mine. Nice, awful nice.” Come on!
  • There’s a very impressive 360 degree shot of Dunson, his men, and the herd as they prepare to embark on their trek. I assume getting all those steer was quite the cattle call. Thank you!
  • Oh good, the one Indigenous character is a full-on stereotype. Shoutout to Chief Yowlachie, a member of the Yakama tribe of Washington State, forced to play the stoic, Tarzan-level broken English speaking straight man to Walter Brennan’s antics.
  • Wow, this is the most effective stampede scene this side of “The Lion King“. You definitely feel the danger these men are in both by the potential loss of and death by the cattle. Easily the highlight of the movie for me.
  • There’s definitely a “Mutiny on the Bounty” vibe going on with Wayne and Clift’s characters. Even Borden Chase admitted that his original story was just “‘Mutiny’ with saddles and stirrups.”
  • The wrangler Sims Reeves, about Dunson reading from the Bible after killing one of his men: “Why try to bring the Lord in as a partner on the job?” Sims gets it.
  • Joanne Dru fills the Hawksian Woman trope neatly as Tess, the outspoken woman who comes between Dunson and Matt. Funnily enough, it was John Ireland who caught Dru’s attention in real life, and the two married shortly after production wrapped. Fun Fact: Joanne Dru is the older sister of original “Hollywood Squares” host Peter Marshall!
  • Blink and you’ll miss Shelley Winters as a background performer in the wagon train. She was a bit player when “Red River” was filmed, but by the time it was released her star had risen with her breakout performance in “A Double Life”. Technically this is Winters’ NFR debut, but thankfully “A Place in the Sun” would be inducted the next year.
  • It’s always nice to see silent screen star Harry Carey in a movie; he has an appealing soft-spokeness to him, plus he automatically makes me think of Harry Caray. “Red River” is the only time Harry Carey Sr. and Jr. would be in a film together (Jr. is one of the wranglers), and sadly would be Carey Sr.’s final movie, released almost a full year after his passing.
  • [Spoilers] Well that was definitely an ending. The original story ended with Dunson getting shot, and Matt taking his body back to Texas to be buried on his property. Hawks didn’t like the idea of the main character learning a lesson and then immediately dying, so he opted for a happier ending. Neither Borden Chase nor Montgomery Clift liked this new ending (Clift called it a “farce”), and they are right to feel that way. It definitely sticks out from the rest of the movie, wrapping things up too neatly with a broadly comic bow. You expect this kind of ending from “I Love Lucy”, but not from a John Wayne western.

Legacy 

  • “Red River” was filmed in 1946, but its release was delayed for almost two years due to extensive re-editing when Hawks was dissatisfied with the original cut. The film’s release was delayed again thanks to this blog’s recurring heel Howard Hughes. Turns out Hughes was still bitter about Hawks quitting on Hughes’ “The Outlaw” six years earlier, and sued Hawks for similarities between the climactic shootouts of “Red River” and “Outlaw”. “Red River” was cut down by six minutes (with new footage and alternate narration) before hitting theaters in August 1948. At some point the theatrical print was lost, and the original “Directors Cut” started appearing on television and home video. Side note: Peter Bogdanovich claimed that Hawks preferred the theatrical cut, but this has been debated.
  • Allegedly Hawks was so grateful of Christian Nyby’s Hail Mary editing pass that he gave Nyby the chance to direct his first movie, 1951’s “The Thing From Another World” which, depending on which film historian you believe, may or may not have actually been directed by Nyby.
  • Howard Hawks gave key members of the “Red River” team commemorative belt buckles with the Red River D brand, which John Wayne wore in subsequent films (including Hawks’ “Rio Bravo”). These buckles have become collector’s items over the years, with Clift’s buckle selling for almost $14,000 at a 2014 auction.
  • Wayne pays tribute to the late Harry Carey in the iconic final moment of “The Searchers“. As Wayne stands in the doorway, he holds his right elbow with his left hand, a stance Carey took in many of his movies. Carey’s widow Olive appears in this scene and was moved by the homage.
  • “Red River” quickly became part of the John Wayne mythos, and was one of many clips utilized in the opening montage of Wayne’s character in his final film, 1976’s “The Shootist”.

Wow, Movie #650, the last major checkpoint before I reach 700 movies, a personal goalpost I always wanted for the blog. Onward!

For Your NFR Consideration: Alan Arkin

Like so many others, I was saddened to learn of the recent passing of the great Alan Arkin. With an acting career that spanned over 60 years, Arkin appeared in such a wide variety of film and TV that you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn’t seen at least one of his performances. Most surprisingly, Arkin appeared in over 80 movies, and not a single one of them is on the National Film Registry! I present some of Arkin’s most iconic films and performances for your NFR consideration.

The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966)

If you don’t count 1957’s “Calypso Heat Wave” (in which Arkin appears as part of the folk group The Tarriers), “Russians” is Arkin’s film debut. Fresh out of Second City with a few Broadway hits under his belt, Arkin plays one of the titular Russians; a Soviet Navy lieutenant whose submarine runs aground on a New England beach town. In addition to its significance in Arkin’s filmography (and earning him his first Oscar nomination), “Russians” encapsulates the absurdities of the Cold War (think of it as a lighter variation of “Dr. Strangelove“) and was an early success for the film’s director Norman Jewison.

Wait Until Dark (1967)

Admittedly, this one is more for Audrey Hepburn, who has been getting a lot of attention from the NFR in recent years. In her last film role before her semi-retirement, Hepburn plays a blind woman who accidentally comes into possession of a heroin supply sought after by a criminal played by Arkin. “Wait Until Dark” is still considered one of the most suspenseful thrillers of the era, and earned Hepburn her fifth and final Best Actress Oscar nomination.

The In-Laws (1979)

Wanting to avoid typecasting, Arkin spent the 1970s zig-zagging through his career, switching from acting and directing, stage and screen. One of his most memorable zags of the decade was his performance in “The In-Laws” as a timid dentist who gets mixed up in an international caper with a CIA agent (Peter Falk) whose son is about to marry Arkin’s daughter. In an era filled with funny character studies, “The In-Laws” stands out among the best. You can never hear the word “serpentine” without thinking of this movie.

The Last Unicorn (1982)

I don’t really have anything to say about this movie; I just learned today that Alan Arkin is a voice in it. This may have been his biggest career zag.

Edward Scissorhands (1990)

This would be a great NFR twofer: Having “Scissorhands” on the list would represent Arkin as well as Tim Burton who – outside of some uncredited puppetry on “The Muppet Movie” – is unrepresented on the NFR. “Scissorhands” is Burton in his prime, weaving all of his trademark aesthetics and talents into one near-perfect movie. Arkin doesn’t have much to do as the soft-spoken patriarch of the family that takes in the titular misfit, but as always Arkin leaves a memorable impression that helps ground the film.

Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)

It’s really saying something when a movie has an ensemble so stacked that you forget Alan Arkin is in it. This is of course not a knock on Arkin’s work here as a reserved, apprehensive salesman, it’s just hard to stand out among the meatier theatrics of Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino, and – in a career-defining cameo – Alec Baldwin. Both “Glengarry” the movie and the play continue to hold a place in pop culture, and I advise the NFR to Always Be Closing.

Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

I submit “Little Miss Sunshine” for NFR consideration every so often, not only as representation of the quirky indie comedies of the 2000s, but also as a personal favorite. I remember seeing “Little Miss Sunshine” in theaters and knowing then and there that Alan Arkin would win the Oscar for his work as the Hoover family’s blunt yet warmhearted grandpa, and man do I love it when I’m right.

Other Alan Arkin Films For Your Consideration

  • The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968)
  • Catch-22 (1970)
  • Freebie and the Bean (1974)
  • Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)
  • Marley & Me (2009)
  • Argo (2012)

Bonus Alan Arkin Film That I Love But Probably Won’t Make the NFR But Should For His Performance Alone: So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993)

Remember that the “Your” in “For Your Consideration”is you, the reader. Anyone can nominate their favorite Alan Arkin movies for NFR consideration. You can submit your nominations here (the 2023 deadline is August 15th). You can check out the NFR’s page of films not yet on the list for reference, as well as my own personal page of favorites I keep submitting. In the spirit of Arkin’s improv background, let’s “Yes, and” this legend into film history.

#649) All My Babies: A Midwife’s Own Story (1953)

#649) All My Babies: A Midwife’s Own Story (1953)

Directed & Written by George C. Stoney

Class of 2002

“All My Babies” is available for viewing on the Library of Congress’ YouTube page. I can’t embed it here because it has an age-restriction (you’ll learn why in a minute) but you can watch it here.

The Plot: Produced by the Georgia Department of Public Health, “All My Babies” follows Mary Francis Hill Coley, a real life midwife in Albany, Georgia who helps deliver babies throughout Dougherty County. After a lecture from a doctor about the importance of proper hygiene, we witness Mary helping deliver babies for two families: one that practices healthy prenatal care, and one that doesn’t. Don’t worry, no one dies during this, but you will see an on-camera birth, so be prepared for that.

Why It Matters: The NFR calls the film a “landmark” that “inadvertently captured a telling snapshot at the socioeconomic conditions of the era”. Film historian Joshua Glick is on hand with a detailed essay on George Stoney and the film’s production.

But Does It Really?: “All My Babies” is the kind of unique film the NFR was made for, highlighting creative talent and exceptional communities far removed from Hollywood studios. Any NFR film gets points for me if I can instantly tell how and why it made the list and if nothing else, this is the NFR movie with a live childbirth. Definitely an unforgettable moment, though admittedly it overpowers and distracts from the rest of the movie (at least for me). Still, you can’t deny the importance of people like George Stoney and Mary Coley, and “All My Babies” is more than worthy of its NFR standing. Just don’t eat before watching it.

Everybody Gets One: George Stoney started off as a writer and field research assistant before pivoting to filmmaking after World War II. Using his pre-war experience, Stoney focused on educational films. His 1946 offering “Palmour Street” concerned mental health within the Black community and earned him a commission from the Georgia Department of Public Health to make a film about midwives. Stoney was given 118 talking points (!) to make in his midwife film, but was given the creative freedom to present these points however he wanted. Mary Coley was a veteran midwife in Albany, Georgia who was selected out of 20 potential candidates to appear in “All My Babies”. Aware of the “mammy” stereotype that could be associated with her appearance in the film, Coley worked with Stoney to present her community with respect and dignity. In addition, Coley helped craft the film’s overall structure.

Title Track: Mary says the title twice, including the final line: “I’m proud of all my babies.” Side note: On multiple occasions I have accidentally referred to this movie as “All My Sons” and “All My Children“. It’s just one of those titles, I guess.

Wow, That’s Dated: I’m definitely out of my element when it comes to medical practices, but I assume that modern midwifery is very different from how it’s depicted in this film.

Seriously, Oscars?: No Oscar for “All My Babies”. For the record: 1953’s Best Documentary Feature was fellow NFR entry “The Living Desert“.

Other notes 

  • I am very unqualified to discuss the aforementioned “socioeconomic conditions” of this movie, but it is worth mentioning that this film about a Black community was made by a White filmmaker. Stoney was able to gain the trust of the Black community depicted in this film with the help of Bishop Noah, a local pastor of Mary Coley’s church. The flip side of that is Stoney having to cow-tow to his (White) producers, depicting a South where both White and Black medical workers interact in harmony, definitely not the case in 1950s Georgia. Stoney also had to make a film that promoted midwives while simultaneously presenting them as “a temporary and unfortunate necessity” in rural Georgia.
  • Shoutout to this film’s Chief Electrician Robert Downey, who to the best of my knowledge is of no relation to either Sr. or Jr.
  • This movie is that “Forgotten Frontier” style of docudrama in which real people are recreating events from their own lives, which must have been weird. We also get a dangerous combination of thick southern accents and stilted non-acting from these performers. Patience is required for the more expositional scenes.
  • The Musical Art Chorus of Washington D.C. lend their vocal talents to the film, underscoring several key moments as joyous and celebratory. That being said, at one point the choir sounds like they’re gonna start singing “Spider-Pig“.
  • And now this movie’s most notable moment: a real-time live birth. Just when I think I’ve seen everything on this blog, I witness the beautiful, disgusting miracle of life. This is one of the rare times where going into a film cold was a disservice. Still, this was easier to watch than “Pink Flamingos“. And once the baby arrived, I immediately went into “look at that cute baby” mode. If that baby is still alive, he would be in his early ’70s and probably grossed out that he can watch his own birth.
  • Also dated: Dads-to-be waiting in another room while the baby is being born. You get your ass in there and help out! This is your doing too, you bastard!
  • A brief sequence of a mother breastfeeding her newborn child reminds me: Breastfeeding is neither gross nor sensual. If you’re on either extreme, mind your own business.
  • At one point, the doctor’s admonishment “Something wasn’t clean” echoes in Mary’s head. Maybe I just needed to lighten the mood after this movie’s darker scenes, but all I could think of in that moment was “Pinch hitting for Pedro Borbón, Manny Mota-Mota-Mota.”
  • Interesting that the second birth isn’t shown on camera. I guess the kid didn’t sign a release form.
  • “My, what a husky little peanut we have here.” That may be the worst thing you can say about a newborn child. I hope that’s not the baby’s first memory.

Legacy 

  • “All My Babies” was well received within the medical community, and even managed to be screened at New York’s Cinema 16 as an “avant-garde” piece (This designation allowed a film with childbirth to be publicly screened).
  • George Stoney continued making educational films for the next 50 years! Stoney also taught film at Columbia and NYU, and was an early advocate for democratic media, earning the moniker “the father of public-access television”.
  • Mary Coley delivered over 3,000 babies during her three-decade midwife career, and continues to be celebrated for her accomplishments; being added to the Georgia Women of Achievement list in 2011.

#648) Life of an American Fireman (1903)

#648) Life of an American Fireman (1903)

OR “The Editing Inferno”

Directed by Edwin S. Porter

Class of 2016

The Plot: A fire chief (James H. White) has a vision of a woman and her child (Unknown Actor and Vivian Vaughan) in danger when their house catches on fire. Almost immediately afterwards, that vision becomes a reality, and we follow the firefighters as they hurry to the house. A fireman (Arthur White) rescues the two in one of the first American films to feature intercutting as a form of storytelling. Or…maybe not.

Why It Matters: The NFR calls it “among the most innovative in terms of editing, storytelling and the relationship between shots.” The film’s status as a “controversial topic in American film historiography” is also highlighted.

But Does It Really?: This one is tricky. On the one hand, the NFR is understandably quick to induct and preserve these early attempts at narrative film, especially with heavy-hitters like Thomas Edison and Edwin Porter attached to it. On the other hand, it seems like this film’s historical significance comes from a later cut of the film with more advanced cross-cutting that was erroneously accepted as the original. This feels like if 100 years from now the NFR inducted “The Phantom Menace” only to realize the film they really wanted was “The Phantom Edit”. I can give “Life of an American Firefighter” a pass as a “stepping stone” movie: the missing link between the actuality films of early cinema and the first narrative stories like “The Great Train Robbery“. Plus its “controversy” among film historians puts it in the rare “Manhattan” category of NFR films in which their controversy is also their legacy.

Before we go any further, you may be wondering what exactly is this editing controversy I keep referencing. I’m glad you asked: it’s time to break down this film’s editing history, aka Life of “Life of an American Fireman”.

As presented in 1903 the final two shots of “American Fireman” were presented as seen in the video embedded above: The first of the two is an 81 second shot inside the woman’s bedroom in which she wakes up, discovers the fire, and is rescued along with her daughter by a fireman via a ladder outside her window. This is followed by an 85 second shot of these events from outside the house in which we see the firefighters prop the ladder under the woman’s bedroom window and rescue her and her daughter.

At some point, an unknown editor (potentially history’s first fan editor) recut these two shots so that the action intercut between inside and outside the house. In 1944, this recut version ended up at the Museum of Modern Art who, naturally, assumed it was the original, leading to a decades-long evaluation of Edwin Porter as an innovative editor. Around the 1960s, the original paper print (the film’s positive print submitted on paper for copyright purposes) was rediscovered within the Library of Congress with the original uncut takes, and a debate began among film historians about the validity of both versions. An original 1903 print of “American Fireman” was discovered by the American Film Institute in the late 1970s, proving that the MoMA print was a re-edit. And so from all of this we get an NFR film whose historical significance is one big misunderstanding. It’s the “Three’s Company” of NFR movies!

Wow, That’s Dated: Primarily the technology being used by the firefighters. The one that was the most intriguing to watch in action were the horse-drawn fire engines. Steam-pumped engines had been around for a while but hadn’t caught on, and the first motorized fire engine was invented in 1897 (six years before “American Fireman”), only becoming a serious contender to replace horses around 1905.

Other notes 

  • So the fire chief has a vision of the fire and then it happens? When did firefighters stop being Precogs?
  • Total tangent, but worth mentioning: For years my closest polling place was a fire station, and every time I voted I would ask if I could slide down the pole and the answer was always no. Understandable, but I bet voter turnout would be a lot better if you let people slide down the pole.
  • All this talk about firefighters got me thinking about the future of the profession; specifically if AI could ever replace human firefighters. The answer, for the time being, is a surprising no. My research shows that while AI is currently being used to help firefighters respond faster to fires and save more lives, they are only being used to aid humans rather than replace them. Which makes sense: I imagine an AI firefighter calendar wouldn’t sell as well.
  • The version I watched of “American Fireman” was from a 2004 DVD release that includes a piano score and a song! Definitely wasn’t expecting to hear an actual voice during my viewing. I cannot for the life of me find out the name of the song, but I suspect it is of the era (it has a Gilbert-and-Sullivan vibe to it). I typed in practically every intelligible lyric of this song into my search engine and couldn’t get a single lead on a name or a composer. WHO ARE YOU!?

Legacy

  • Sure, Edwin Porter can’t put “Revolutionary Film Editor” on his resume, but he still made “The Great Train Robbery”, so there.
  • Firefighters have continued to be a source of dramatic storytelling in the last century-plus of filmmaking. I’ve never seen “Backdraft”, but I did see the special effects show at Universal Studios. That counts, right?

Further Viewing: “Fire!” the 1901 British film by James Williamson that many film historians cite as an influence on “Life of an American Fireman”. I assume being a British firefighter is a lot like being an American one, except they spell it with an extra “u” for some reason.

#647) 3:10 to Yuma (1957)

#647) 3:10 to Yuma (1957)

OR “Van Transit Ford”

Directed by Delmer Daves

Written by Halsted Welles. Based on the short story “Three-Ten to Yuma” by Elmore Leonard.

Class of 2012 

The Plot: Dan Evans (Van Heflin) is a rancher in the Arizona Territory whose finances have taken a turn due to an ongoing drought. One day Evans witnesses a stagecoach robbery by a gang of bandits led by the infamous Ben Wade (Glenn Ford). When Wade and his gang arrive in the nearby town of Bisbee, Wade is arrested, and the stagecoach’s owner Mr. Butterfield (Robert Emhardt) offers $200 to anyone who volunteers to escort Wade to Contention City and make him board the 3:10 to Yuma, home of the territory’s main prison. Typically averse to confrontation or risk-taking, Evans volunteers because the money would get him out of debt. As the pair get closer to the train’s departure, Wade and Evans play a psychological cat-and-mouse game more dangerous than any shots fired along the way.

Why It Matters: The NFR calls the film “one of the best westerns of the 1950s”, praising its “progressive insight”, as well as the “innovative” work of Delmer Daves.

But Does It Really?: We have a rarity on this list: a Western I actually liked. “3:10 to Yuma” has a lot going for it; a solid storyline that cuts down on the genre’s mythologizing and focuses more on character, two great lead performances (especially Glenn Ford), wonderful cinematography, and if nothing else a runtime of only 92 minutes. “3:10” is not the first movie people think of when they think great westerns, but in many ways the film’s underratedness proved to be an asset in my viewing: no major plot points were spoiled for me beforehand, so I was able to experience the film’s tension effectively. I’ll put “3:10 to Yuma” in the “minor classic” category: Not the most important western ever made, but still entertaining enough (and referenced enough thanks to its remake) for me not to question its NFR standing.

Everybody Gets One: Delmer Daves started out in the film industry as a prop boy for 1923’s “The Covered Wagon”. By the 1930s Daves was a screenwriter, most notably co-writing the original 1939 “Love Affair”. His directorial debut was 1943’s “Destination Tokyo”, but he quickly found his niche helming Westerns that subverted the genre’s tropes (1950’s “Broken Arrow” featured one of the first Indigenous protagonists). Daves liked using the same roster of actors in his movies, and “3:10” includes Daves regulars Glenn Ford and Felicia Farr.

Title Track: In the aftermath of “High Noon“, “3:10” is another Western on this list with a title number. Composed by George Duning and Ned Washington, “The 3:10 to Yuma” is sung by Frankie Laine in what I consider his second-best title song performance. Shoutout to Washington for rhyming “Yuma” with “rumor”. [Chef’s kiss]

Seriously, Oscars?: No Oscar love for “3:10 to Yuma”, but the film received a handful of precursor nods, including a BAFTA nomination for Best Film from any Source, losing to “The Bridge on the River Kwai“.

Other notes 

  • I definitely got the sense that “3:10 to Yuma” was based on a short story, but the film’s padding didn’t bother me as much as it has with similar NFR films. The original Elmore Leonard story constitutes the second half of this film, with the first half being an appropriate amount of setup and expansion of everyone’s motives.
  • We’ve covered three other Glenn Ford movies on this list, and this is the first performance of his that impressed me. Ford was originally offered the role of Dan (more in line with previous Ford roles), but he requested to play against type as Ben instead. I gotta say, maybe this should have been Ford’s type to begin with. Ben Wade has a Hannibal Lecter thing going: as a prisoner, he should have the lowest status of any character, but he manages to keep control with his low-key charm and his ability to exploit people’s psychological weaknesses. Ford is clearly having a field day playing the heavy, inviting you to sympathize with a character that would be villainized in any other Western.
  • If I’m going to go on and on about how great Glenn Ford is in this, I gotta give Van Heflin his due. Heflin’s only other NFR appearance is as a co-lead in “Shane“, so it’s nice seeing him take center stage here, with his restrained, conflicted performance meshing well with Ford’s showier part. Also is it just me or does Van Heflin kinda sound like Buster Keaton in his later years? There’s a gravely quality to both their voices that I associate with the vice-filled lifestyles of your Classic Hollywood stars.
  • I have no idea why the character of Emmy the saloon girl is here other than to pad the story and be “the girl” in the picture. Don’t get me wrong, Felicia Farr’s not bad, and she conveys a lot of character with her subtle glances, but Emmy doesn’t really add much and we never see her again once the plot kicks in. Farr also must have had a great agent, getting equal billing with Heflin and Ford despite having maybe 10 minutes of screentime. Fun Fact: Felicia Farr was married to Jack Lemmon!
  • I do love how much time Ben focuses on the color of Emmy’s eyes. It’s a black and white movie: Who cares? Also, how does Emmy fall for Ben’s creepy come-ons? Maybe I don’t understand how flirting work.
  • Robert Emhardt is giving me a sort of Sydney Greenstreet/Burl Ives-without-a-goatee vibe.
  • I love that the amount Mr. Butterfield offers Evans is the exact amount he needs to get out of debt. It’s like that Talent Show trope where the grand prize is the exact amount the gang needs to save the rec center. Wow, I don’t know what surprises me more: The fact that I just made a “Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo” reference on this blog, or that it took me six years to do so.
  • Shoutout to Charles Lawton Jr., longtime Columbia cinematographer who shoots the hell out of the Arizona landscape and injects a surprising amount of noir-esque shadows into this western. We’ll see more of Lawton’s impressive cinematography when I finally get around to covering “The Lady from Shanghai”.
  • Henry Jones gives as much heft as he can to Alex Potter, the movie’s resident redemptive drunk. And every time the kids call him Mr. Potter I flash on Lionel Barrymore.
  • Man, Evans’ kids are annoying as hell. The younger one in particular is like a western Dennis the Menace. I laughed pretty hard at the mom’s added prayer to “give us the wisdom that comes with silence.”
  • The scenes in the Contention City hotel room (aka where the original short story begins) are understandably the best. Van and Glenn play their respective sides of the scenes with such impressive subtlety that I genuinely didn’t know how the scene would play out. Proof that a scene with just two people talking can be as thrilling as any action scene.
  • I’m confused by Alex’s line “I’m a family man in a way.” Is that a euphemism for something?
  • That’s an interesting ending. Not bad, but it just kind of happens. The climactic moment might be too obscured by the surrounding elements, but I do love the final shots as the end theme swells.

Legacy 

  • “3:10 to Yuma” was released in August 1957, and was a hit with critics and audiences. Even Elmore Leonard considered it one of the better film adaptations of his work. You know who didn’t like this movie? Howard Hawks. Between this and “High Noon”, Hawks hated how philosophical and metaphorical Westerns were becoming, which inspired him to make his own Western in response, fellow NFR entry “Rio Bravo”.
  • Delmer Daves continued making westerns throughout the ’50s (most notably “The Hanging Tree”), but his weakening heart condition led him to withdraw from the on-location hazards of westerns for a safer in-studio climate. Daves’ later films include “Spencer’s Mountain” and “A Summer Place”, the latter of which has a theme song that I now have stuck in my head for the rest of the day.
  • This is one of those movies that tends to be referenced in pop culture mainly for its title. Someone will refer to a train (or any other important mode of transportation) as “the 3:10 to Yuma”, but that’s about it.
  • Did you know that Elmore Leonard wrote the books and short stories that would become the films “Get Shorty”, “Jackie Brown”, and the TV series “Justified”? If I knew any of that, I defintely forgot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9Bd4ShuEAw
  • After a bit of development turnaround, a remake of “3:10 to Yuma” hit theaters in fall 2007. Directed by James Mangold and starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, this “3:10” is on the list of rare remakes of classics that are as good as the original. When I told people I was covering “3:10” for the blog, a lot of them assumed it was the remake.
  • Perhaps the film’s most enduring legacy happened in another country. “3:10 to Yuma” was one of the last films released in pre-revolution Cuba and citizens used the film’s title as slang for Americans: “yumas” (a variation on “La Yunay”, their term for the United States). After the revolution, American pop culture was banned, but a wave of nostalgia for these old movies hit Cuba in the late 1970s, and some US titles started to make the rounds again. “3:10” returned to Cuban culture, as did the term “yumas”.

Bonus Clip: The theme from “A Summer Place”, so that we can all suffer this earworm together.