3:10 TO YUMA (1957) - August 7th

I recently re-watched Steven Soderbergh's Out of Sight, which despite the presence of Jennifer Lopez (she's actually excellent in the film) remains one of my favorites, as cool and smart as ever. I also just recently saw Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown again and it's still atop my list of Tarantino's work (I realize I'm alone on this).

So as I looked over this month's programming, I realized what bonds those two terrific late '90s films together. Both are based on novels by one of America's great crime writers, Elmore Leonard. And thus my pick for August, the original 3:10 to Yuma.

It's based on a Leonard short story published in 1953. Like its two modern cousins, the story here is balanced between a conflicted, layered good guy and a bad guy we're drawn to despite his obvious flaws. Glenn Ford stepped out of his likable, everyman persona to play Ben Wade, the leader of a ruthless gang of outlaws. Once captured, it falls upon Van Heflin, a hardworking rancher, to get Ford on a train, the 3:10 to Yuma, that will take him to prison.

It's the complicated relationship - not a friendship, but a sense of mutual respect - between Ford and Heflin that drives the film, while Ford's men close in to violently rescue their boss before the train leaves the station. Like adversaries Jennifer Lopez and George Clooney in Out of Sight, you're intrigued by both Heflin and Ford. Now, in addition to recommending the film, I'd also like to take credit for being the first person ever to compare Jennifer Lopez to Van Heflin.

by Ben Mankiewicz