3:10 to Yuma Trivias

Russell Crowe was director James Mangold's very first choice for the role of Ben Wade. After Tom Cruise dropped out of talks for the film, putting it into turnaround, it was the casting of Crowe that got the production back up and running.Russell Crowe, director James Mangold, and producer Cathy Konrad unanimously preferred Christian Bale as the co-lead.

Eric Bana was in initial negotiations to star opposite Tom Cruise in this film.The weekend before shooting was scheduled to wrap, a freak storm dumped nearly 2 feet of snow on the supposedly drought plagued town. Labourers shoveled the snow from the buildings' balconies and roofs and distributed 89 dump trucks worth of dry soil on the ground. Backhoes created an 8 foot tall rampart of snow just beyond camera sight lines for the remaining 6 days of shooting.

The movie was funded in conjunction with New Mexico's Film Investment Program.The short story upon which the film is based was published in Dime Western Magazine in 1953.

In Contention, the main characters are joined by three U.S. Marshals. One of the marshals is named Sam Fuller, for film director Samuel Fuller; another is named Harvey Pell, after Sheriff Will Kane's former deputy in High Noon (1952); the third is named Will Doane which had been the original name of character Will Kane in "High Noon" until filmmakers' discovered actress Katy Jurado could not pronounce it.A building in the town of Contention reads "Besser's Parlor." The executive producer is Stuart M. Besser.

The bird sketched by Russell Crowe's character is an auger buzzard, native to Africa.The pistol used by Christian Bales character is an 1851 navy colt with a Richards-Mason conversion.

When Doc Potter removes the bullet from McElroy's belly, he drops it in a metal bowl. The noise of the dropping bullet does not match up with the visual drop.Unless the 3:10 was more than "running a little late" there seems to be a significant loss of daylight in the final scene. As we watch the final shots of the train leaving town and son standing over his father's body, the sun is seen in its last light of the day; lighting both the underside of train and 10 gallon hat. However, at its shortest time of the year, the sun doesn't set on the Arizona region until well past 5pm.

At the beginning, when Dan's son lights a match to see at night, the match burns very slowly and irregularly, varying the burnt length. When he puts it out, only the tip is burnt despite it being lit for about 60 seconds.When the stage coach is ambushed, there are two men on the back using the Gatling gun. One of the men is shot and thrown from the coach, but in a subsequent shot, you can see two men on the back of the coach. (this same goof occurs in the 1957 version)

Towards the end of the movie, when the train pulls into the station, you can hear the bell ringing, but the bell is stationary in the shot as it passes the depot.

In the end credits, writer Halsted Welles' first name is misspelled as "Haslted".After receiving vicious blows to the face and spitting out a tooth, Ben Wade greeted the next day with nothing worse than a big scab on his right temple. He also has a big, beautiful smile.

While Ben Wade and Dan Evans are moving from the hotel to the train depot, there is one shot where the sky is completely overcast. All other shots show a bright, blue sky.Near the ending there are construction sites shown in the town of Contention. However, dimensional lumber is being used and that didn't come into widespread use until mid 20th century.

As the bad guy posse rides into Contention City you can clearly see seven men on horseback. But when William is asked how many men are approaching he responds "Seven, or eight." This is a nod to the original version of the movie in which the number of men changed back and forth between seven and eight.While in Contention, William Evans comes and knocks on the hotel room door to tell his father that Ben Wade's gang is coming, but he was never told what room they were staying in.

During the exchange of Ben Wade with the deputy in the stuck coach in front of Dan Evans' Ranch, you hear the Marshall cock his revolver just before Ben Wade is let out. In the subsequent shot his revolver is not cocked.According to the dialog, the movie is set in 1868 (three years after the Civil War ended). The Scofield pistols used so ostentatiously by Charlie Prince (Ben Foster) were not introduced until 1869.

In some of the shots of Bisbee, power lines (maybe telegraph lines) are visible on the horizon.Around the campfire, Ben Wade is reminiscing about the wild town of Dodge City. However, the movie is set in 1868, while Dodge City didn't become the wild town Wade describes until the mid- to late 1870s.

Bisbee, Arizona is portrayed as being laid out on a flat plot of land, when it is actually a mountainous, hilly town. The general appearance of the countryside shown in the film bears scant resemblance to southern Arizona, where this movie is set.There are dialogue references to "gunslingers," a term which did not exist until the 1920's. At the time of the film, such men would have been referred to as "shootists," "pistoleers," or simply "gunmen."