tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post6265171650487015823..comments2024-03-19T05:28:00.356-04:00Comments on SleuthSayers: Shuffle OffLeigh Lundinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-89816454221269985892021-08-12T17:09:19.365-04:002021-08-12T17:09:19.365-04:00I never saw the original version so I would hope I...I never saw the original version so I would hope I like it better than the new one. I wanted Dan to live.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-83753524013058606222021-08-12T14:15:34.507-04:002021-08-12T14:15:34.507-04:00Great column, David. Sorry I'm late to the pa...Great column, David. Sorry I'm late to the party. I agree that the original 3:10 TO YUMA was better than the remake, and better than Leonard's short story. I also agree that the novel SHANE was even better than the movie, and I Ioved both. And I too read OX-BOW INCIDENT only after seeing the movie, so maybe that's why I think, in that case, the movie was better. <br /><br />All things considered, I think Elmore Leonard's works were adapted into some good movies: 3:10, THE TALL T, HOMBRE, 52 PICK-UP, GET SHORTY, OUT OF SIGHT, JACKIE BROWN, etc.John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-58449650845926539732021-08-12T09:52:51.889-04:002021-08-12T09:52:51.889-04:00Steve, yes, Henry Fonda was the lead in OX-BOW INC...Steve, yes, Henry Fonda was the lead in OX-BOW INCIDENT the movie, along with a solid Dana Andrews and Harry Morgan. (And Anthony Quinn as "the Mexican") <br />Side note: The only Westerns I ever showed in my classes were YOJIMBO and SEVEN SAMURAI which I showed to show that most modern Western movies (THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN and HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER, etc.) were remakes of Kurosawa movies. Eve Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03015761600962360110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-78415637782446363042021-08-12T03:44:09.518-04:002021-08-12T03:44:09.518-04:00Another fine column about 3:10 to Yuma and I still...Another fine column about 3:10 to Yuma and I still haven't read the story!Jeff Bakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00316081079528920123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-43862087987263244962021-08-12T03:43:20.640-04:002021-08-12T03:43:20.640-04:00Good Grief! I didn't know Chandler was critici...Good Grief! I didn't know Chandler was criticizing that idea!Jeff Bakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00316081079528920123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-77392357339882276292021-08-11T23:23:41.217-04:002021-08-11T23:23:41.217-04:00Oddly, clearest main thing I recall in the most re...Oddly, clearest main thing I recall in the most recent version of Yuma is the tssst, tssst, tssst of the idling locomotive. My particular attention may be in part because of my exposure to steam engines when I was a kid, but in the movie, it serves as a metronome, building tension as the time ticks toward 3:10.<br /><br />I have to be cautious not to explain too much, but I often err in the opposite direction, letting the reader to deduce too much. It's a balance.Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-22875490287379342392021-08-11T23:05:54.921-04:002021-08-11T23:05:54.921-04:00I think SHANE, the Jack Schaefer book, is better t...I think SHANE, the Jack Schaefer book, is better than the picture, although I love the picture. Schaefer himself referred to Alan Ladd as "that dwarf," but Ladd is really good in the part. I agree that Jean Arthur makes the movie.<br />I think OX-BOW INCIDENT, the movie, is better than the book, although I admire Walter Van Tilburg Clark, and I like CITY OF THE TREMBLING LEAVES a lot. But the way Wellman frames his actors is extraordinary. Look at the scene where Fonda reads the dead guy's letter. <br />The 1957 version of 3:10 TO YUMA is better, if only because: Glenn Ford. Probably one of the most underrated guys of his era. I should do a piece on his noirs alone, then the Westerns, then the service comedies. The trick he manages in 3:10 TO YUMA is that he's enormously, dangerously charming, but clearly a snake underneath, until the last 30 seconds. (Dick Jaeckel of course helps.) <br />It's an interesting point that opening a story up can weaken it. The tight internal dynamics of the Boetticher/Scott Westerns (Leonard wrote the story for THE TALL T) keep them edgy and personal. A model for story-telling, and no wasted motion. None of them run more than an hour and twenty minutes. <br /><br />DEGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15113268275022728533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-32380231345486436932021-08-11T19:14:23.321-04:002021-08-11T19:14:23.321-04:00Eve, I love the Ox-Bow Incident. I assigned it for...Eve, I love the Ox-Bow Incident. I assigned it for years in my American Lit class, but I don't remember ever seeing the film. Henry Fonda was in it, wasn't he? <br />The only other western I remember using in class was Shane, and I showed the Alan Ladd film, which has some brillian parts and some that are embarrassingly awful. 1953 Hollywood had no idea how to handle a strong female character, and Jean Arthur salvaged the character anyway.Steve Liskowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07107703903536520140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-55754197454473176022021-08-11T17:33:00.582-04:002021-08-11T17:33:00.582-04:00Yeah, I write shorter & shorter stuff all the ...Yeah, I write shorter & shorter stuff all the time. I have two drabbles coming out in November.Elizabeth Dearbornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14714209544959819305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-42815496319617384132021-08-11T11:47:01.678-04:002021-08-11T11:47:01.678-04:00I've seen the first version of 3:10 to Yuma, a...I've seen the first version of 3:10 to Yuma, and it was great. Another one - which I think is better than the book, which I read after seeing the movie - was The OxBow Incident. Whew. Eve Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03015761600962360110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-70974856785092434512021-08-11T11:35:14.000-04:002021-08-11T11:35:14.000-04:00Very interesting. I have read Leonard's story...Very interesting. I have read Leonard's story but not seen either of the movies. I love the comparison of suspense to comedy. Very true. You know, on Monday Stephen King was the guest on the Late Show. He said when he was writing The Stand he got all the characters to one place and then didn't know what to do with them. Then he remembered Chandler's advice about the man with the gun. Most people don't remember that Chandler was CRITICIZING that technique, but it sure does work. I look forward to Mickey's latest adventure...Robert Loprestihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08844889305615182897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-27553986669323809062021-08-11T09:05:05.827-04:002021-08-11T09:05:05.827-04:00An excellent post, David.
I agree that less is mo...An excellent post, David. <br />I agree that less is more. I also have to admit that remakes of film, especially films based on other original sources, usually turn me off. I saw the Glenn Ford version of 3:10 to Yuma when it came out (I was ten years old) and never had any need to see the remake. <br /><br />The play Proof won a Pulitzer Prize about 20 years ago, and part of what made it so powerful was the setting: the back porch of an old house. That small world helped emphasize the claustrophobic feel of a main character's insanity. The film opened the play up and put it all over Chicago, including the airport, which diluted its power.<br /><br />One of my constant reminders to students in my workshop is that they don't need backstory if they make the action and conflict concrete and immediate. Explanation is telling, but showing usually works better. <br /><br />Steve Liskowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07107703903536520140noreply@blogger.com