By Dan Mayfield

Journal Staff Writer Arts Beat

During this recent spike in movies shot in the state, New Mexico has played New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Minnesota, Las Vegas and Philadelphia.

So, why not a desert? In a Western, no less?

Tree Line Film soon will start shooting a remake of the 1957 classic film "3:10 to Yuma," a Western and a thriller, in New Mexico.

"Ironically, other than in 'The Missing,' as far as films, this is the first big Western that's been shot in the state," said Eric Witt, the governor's director of legislative and political affairs who handles many of the state's film projects.

Well, at least since the state started offering incentives to filmmakers several years ago.

The film will star Russell Crowe, as an outlaw, and Christian Bale as a down-and-out rancher. It will be directed by James Mangold, of "Walk the Line" and "Kate & Leopold."

The original featured some big Hollywood names: Glenn Ford and Van Heflin.

Can Bale really be as good as Heflin as a rancher? Can Crowe be as good as Ford as an outlaw?
Many will say that Bale— still hot after "Batman Begins"— will never be a Heflin. But then, Heflin wasn't a film legend until many years later.

Crowe, however, was born in New Zealand. One wonders how he can match Glenn Ford as the worst bad guy in town, Ben Wade. Well, trivia buffs, Ford wasn't American either. He was born in Quebec, Canada, and was sometimes credited as the Gaelic-sounding Gwyllyn Ford.

Regardless, if any recent remakes— such as last year's remakes of "The Poseidon Adventure," "The Planet of The Apes," or "The Longest Yard"— are an example, critics and the public alike don't really like them.

But then very few films originally done by Burt Reynolds have been considered classics like "3:10 to Yuma," which has gone down in movie lore as a genuine classic. It was a psychological thriller and a Western, a buddy movie and a road movie, all in one.

The story follows Dan Evans (Bale) who is on the verge of losing his land to drought, his wife to discontent, and his son to better fortunes anywhere but the family ranch. So, to turn his fortunes around, Evans agrees to shepherd numero-uno outlaw Ben Wade (Crowe) to a distant town to board the 3:10 train to Yuma, Ariz.

The original film took place, partly, in Arizona. As many know, New Mexico, unlike our neighbor to the west, doesn't have native saguaro cactuses, which some will expect in a Western.

But that was never an issue in the dozens of Westerns filmed in New Mexico over the decades.

"That's like an inside joke," Witt said. "Only we know we don't have saguaros. If I see any saguaros comin' in, I'll let you know."