3:10 to Yuma

With fifty years separating the two versions of the film 3:10 to Yuma, there is certainly an element of revisionism in the later version when compared to the original. The obvious changes can be seen due to the updates in technology. Color film, increased action, and explosions are all included in the remake which makes that film more appealing and marketable for a western in present day. But there are also elements of revisionism in the details of the story that play out in the remake. For instance, the alpha cowboy, Dan Evan, is shown as a much weaker man in the remake. His and his family’s struggles are really illustrated in the remake as opposed to the original. We see that his son is sick, he is deep in debt, and he has to overcome a physical challenge of having only one leg. The dire straits that his family is in can be seen with how he first chisels a few dollars out of Ben Wade moments before he knows the marshal will arrive and then how he volunteers immediately and names a price for his services. The original shows Evan in financial distress but he has to be coaxed into escorting Wade to Contention City. There is a greater sense of urgency for the money in the remake. It suggests that today people are increasingly in need of financial help. This again can be seen later in the film with how the people of Contention City mobilized against Evan when offered $200 to shoot a member of the gang that was trying to get Wade to the train station. People even in the towns were some jobs exists are still clearly desperate for money. The original never shows this as Contention City is almost a ghost town as it nears 3pm. Only Wade’s gang is out on the streets to stop Evan.

Another area of revisionism that the remake touches on is seen in the others that existed in the west, specifically the Chinese working on the railroad. In the scene where Wade comes into the railroad tunnel site, we see the Chinese and how they are being worked to the bone in order to tunnel through the mountains. Those in control seem to disregard the conditions that the Chinese are in seeing they are not equal. The Chinese are all dirty, living in make shift tents, and looking physically beaten down. The original had no mention of any “other” in the film. With the remake including this scene, the filmmakers are certainly sending a message to show the human toll and punishment that took place in bringing the railroad west. It wasn’t all smiles and roses but rather gritty inhuman brute work done by a group being taken advantage of. The 1950s values that existed in society didn’t feel the need to display how racism existed in the west. But now as society is on a more diverse and equal level, issues like the treatment of the Chinese are projected forth.