BEIJING, Sept. 7 (Xinhuanet) -- Gary Cooper ("High Noon" 1952) is long-gone, John Wayne saddled up for the last time, shot to death Richard "Have Gun Will Travel" Boone and rode off into the sunset years ago in "The Shootist" (1976), then Clint Eastwood savagely blew away Gene Hackman in "Unforgiven" (1992) leading many to believe the U.S. Wild West movie was a groaner and a goner.
So leave it to a New Zealand-born actor and an American director who "always wanted to make a western" to resurrect the genre with a remake of a 50-year-old classic, "3:10 to Yuma." The 1957 original, directed by Delmar Daves starred Glen Ford as the bad guy and Van Heflin as the Civil War soldier-turned-pacifist good guy.
The 2007 version of "3:10 to Yuma" stars Russell Crowe, Christian Bale ("Batman") and is directed by Jim Mangold. Crowe said he couldn't wait to get the bit between his teeth after reading the script.
"Actually, I wasn't surprised to be offered a western," says Crowe. "I had spent quite a bit of time with the film's director, Jim Mangold, about six years ago. We became conversational friends. Then he sent me the Yuma script, I read it and enjoyed the dynamic between the two characters. That was the decision made."
These two characters are Crowe's outlaw, Ben Wade, and Bale's Dan Evans, played by Ford and Heflin in the 1957 original. Wade is a somewhat charming but roguish fellow, riding at the head of a gang who regularly target the Southern Pacific Railroad. When he is captured, it's up Evans to escort him across open country to the train bound for Yuma prison. As their journey progresses, the two men engage in a tense battle of wills, forging a mutual respect that sets up a dramatic finale.
"Right from when Evans first confronts Wade, there's a steadiness about him," says Crowe. "I don't think Wade comes across that very often. People have an extreme reaction to him because of his reputation. So I think that begins a kernel of respect and that's what grows."
As a rancher and keen horseman himself, Crowe revelled in the role. The 43-year-old New Zealander is no stranger to the genre. He learned the art of the quick draw while filming director Sam Raimi's pulpy yet star-cluttered "The Quick and the Dead" in 1996.
Crowe indulges his love of horses on the ranch he runs in Nana Glen, a few hours north of Sydney. He recently built stables on his land for "Australia," the forthcoming film from director Baz Luhrmann, in which Nicole Kidman plays an aristocratic rancher in the 1940s Outback. It was a move that didn't pay off.
"I was going to be in that film," he says, "and I was happy to build the stables. But the way things turned out, we didn't do it together - and no one's paid me!"
(Agencies)
