Hollywood Deep

“3:10 to Yuma”, helmed by “Walk The Line” director James Mangold, based on the short story by Elmore Leonard. It’s a remake of “3:10 To Yuma” (1957), one of the great westerns of the 1950s. In the original, a ruthless outlaw (Glenn Ford) and the decent, hard-working rancher (Van Heflin) is determined to deliver him to justice. The new version revisits the basic Elmore Leonard story, with Russell Crowe and Christian Bale starring.
The original film is a classic western, that still holds up.

To think about doing a remake of a classic, it better be good. The trailer seems like it has the feel of some of Clint Eastwood’s westerns, like “Outlaw Josey Whales” and “Unforgiven”, maybe even a bit of some John Wayne western style. Great casting, Russell Crowe always turns in an “A” list performance and Christian Bale is solid. I like the idea of Crowe in a Western, it fits him. I love Elmore Leonard, and consider him one of the top American novelists of our time. He wrote a short story in 1952, and the 1957 film, compared to “High Noon”, as a standard in the genre. I worked on a film based on a Leonard book, “Out of Sight”, he was an interesting character to meet. An imaginative writer, who’s stories always translate well to film.

Being a fan of the the original classic I hope these filmmakers have done it justice. Costing $50 million to make, and the western always ify with todays audience, it could be uphill at the box office.
…DEEP!

“3:10 to Yuma”, original poster

Technorati Tags: “3:10 to Yuma”, , James Mangold, Elmore Leonard, Glenn Ford, Van Heflin, Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Clint Eastwood’, “Outlaw Josey Whales”, “Unforgiven”, John Wayne, Western, , top American novelists, “High Noon”, “Out of Sight”, “3:10 to Yuma”, original poster