I attended the 12/12/07 screening of "3:10 To Yuma" at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood ,California. 

When I had rsvp'ed for it-I needed to give my industry affiliation -although I do have an affiliation I was abit nervous about not being an actual guild member. But all My stressing was laid aside when I got there. There were many non voting attendees. Some were subscribers of Back Stage magazine .It is a publication inspiring actors and others use for casting notices and points of information. And others were simply movie buffs. Some were fans of specific actors or the director of "Yuma".  And yes there were Guild members present. And when it was time to check in-all that mattered was that you were on the list.

The screening was held in the Silver Screen Theater on the second floor of the complex.I sat in the front row this time. I usually prefer being further back. But the screen was still set back abit - and the seats rocked -so your neck did not really strain. But it did allow me to notice little things going on in scenes which I had never noticed before-- in all the other viewings since and including the Premiere.  And the sound was fantastic. You could feel the train coming in ; you felt the impact of the payroll coach falling. You could almost feel the bullets hitting their targets. And then there was the joy of seeing Ben Wade close up. (doesn't matter -that I have on occasion been close up to the actor who breathed life into Wade, which in itself is always good. )

I really love this film. I love the interaction between the characters, the characters themselves, the dialogue , the action, the music, the costumes (especially Ben Wade's) the use of musical like sounds-such as the train -used for dramatic effect, the land itself. And Of course the Wonderful Acting -which apparently the Hollywood Foreign Press missed. (though in fairness - this is a year of great performances-but I still say they missed.)  And Although a baddie-I love Wade. The fact he was an adandoned child -not even a Western LatchKey kid - gave me abit of empathy for him. You find yourself wanting him to get away in the end-unlike the justice you want for Frank Lucas in   "American Gangster. ".  Of course I like the other characters as well. Charlie Prince is a hoot-a psychopathic hoot-but deadly fun to watch. And Dan, Will, Doc Potter ( I have a separate report regarding meeting Alan Tudyk at another event) and all the others.

Unlike the screening Tamara and Darrin described the night before== as being sold out-ours had a lot of people -but the house was not completely filled. But it was a very responsive audience. There was laughter in the right parts. Silence in the correct moments. And Applause.  This was the second time since I have seen "Yuma" -in which a viewing had an audience applaud  when our Big Bad Ben shoots down his gang.

During the end credits there was a lot of applause-and unlike many public viewings the audience stayed and viewed the treat of the Ben Wade credits. The only odd thing about the end credits-was there was no applause when Russell's name first appeared in the credits-that is with the exception of the sound of my applause. There was applause later on when his name appeared with the cast list.  There was alot of applause with cheering for Christian Bale , for Ben Foster, James Mangold, the film editor, and Marco Beltrami-the composer. 

When the film ended-in fact during the end credits-the staff was setting up the chairs for the guests and  the moderator; as well as a stand with "3:10 " key art.

Ben Foster was introduced first.  Christian Bale came out shortly thereafter.  Bale had shorter hair and a beard. Ben was bearded also. Both men were casually dressed. Ben wore a beaded necklace-could have been a rosary-or just a necklace. Christian was all in dark attire. Both men were very funny. When Christian came out the moderator mentioned she would not ask him about the new "Batman "-knowing he could not

Discuss it.  Bale told her: " he was going to tell us about it."

To follow: are items I wrote down quickly  last night-the answers and the questions are not necessarily complete or completely accurate: 

Asked by the moderator:

What drew you the roles?

Bale: He was attracted to Dan-because he had to look at the example he had for his children. There were a lot of ethics , being a family man, Something every man has to answer. (there was more he said-but as I said -did not get it verbatim)

Foster: He was drawn to starring with Russell Crowe,Christian Bale, and having director-James Mangold.

Please discuss the audition:

Ben: I was in a angry mood when I was at the Audition I had been in New Zealand and had flown back to take care of some family business for a few days-and arrived late at the audition. One thing you don't do is arrive late to an audition. Tried to get his agent to change his appointment -but could not-so he was upset. Meanwhile he had read the script five times on the plane.  He read the script scrupulously. Had an impression who the guy (Charlie Prince) was. This is a rare profession -that even if your day goes wrong-=-and you are upset-you can  use it-you can use the day.  Foster also stated that

When Mangold  saw him-he compared him to when he (Mangold) had first seen Angelina Jolie.  Foster said: My first Bosom":.

Bale: his audition: he met with Jim (Mangold) and talked about it,. (Ben laughed here)

He had read the script. And Christian's wife had worked with Jim before. So had him calling Jim and they talked. Bale stated the role was presented to him as Dan . Not another character such as Wade. Besides he thought Russell was already attached to the project. Bale watched the original movie and kept his options open to "to see if he could lift/ steal  some of what was done." "It is all about Poaching ".  (again a lot of what he said to us last night was very humorous). He also had read  the Elmore short story. He felt the hotel scene in the original film and in their movie is " the heart of the film."  While much of original film was intact in theirs-Jim did make changes. One of the changes involved Will-the son. It became important emphasis for Dan to desire  and win the respect from  the youth=-=especially as it related to Dan and Ben Wade's dynamic.

Foster states: "he could not help but poach-so he avoided watching the original film. Still has not seen it. "

They were asked about cowboy boot camp.  They said: they did a lot of rides through canyons, shot guns, had a lot of BBQ's, drank. " Bale added: Talking about crap"., pretty nice faxes  machines and PC's being shot at in the desert". It was lot of fun."

Ben stated he rode had ridden horses. He prepared emotionally and researched. Read the script over and over.Made notes of impressions. He saw Prince as very violent , not a lot of respect. To survive -had to shoot first"  "But he loves his boss.  But not in a sexual way. " But he was capable of doing things.  Foster also stated: he researched the time period and environment. "Simple." Input. To the characters.

Ben Foster also stated: "  he was already growing a beard. And worked with fantastic costume designer Arianne Philips-who had a fantastic rock and roll star mentality. Saw Outlaws of their time having their own P/R  Of violence and glam"

Bale was asked about the prosthetic leg.He got very involved with how to do this -and helped create his own leg. Really worked with it., And then wore it all the time during the shoot. He did this to keep it easy-not have to think about it....as far as how to walk, etc: And it was uncomfortable.  But not in the extreme-especially when it got really cold with the weather-because of the metal in it. But he got used to it-as someone would for real."

They discussed the effects of the snow/weather. Bale said it caused film delays-and the weight of the snow knocked down some of the sets. And they brought in tons of dirt to redress the set-despite the snow.

 When asked about the most difficult scene: Bale said: to make the gunfights mean something with the story. If we managed it - not as hard. And he said he and Jim would argue. How many bullets were actually fired. Bale said he could not shoot someone -if he already used up the bullets.... Jim would say that they could fix that-but Bale was insistent that he needed time to reload.  Despite the argument given to him,--" they were making a movie"-Bale still shot the correct number of bullets-to satisfy himself and the audience." He got Jim to work around it.

Ben said the last day of shooting was most difficult for him  it was the day everyone got killed. There was a lot of death. (meaning Dan , Himself (Charlie), and the gang He stated from the time Ben and dan arrived in the ticket house -until the train was pulling away-the end of the film-it was done in one day-with ONE TAKE  each.

(Done in six hours-and then needed to do different night scenes-and the money was limited). He  felt it was easy to be swept up in the chaos.  They just wanted to get it done. It was easy to lose track of this-especially with this going on. You can't practice it and take a minute to prepare-so made it difficult.

Bale said: This was shot so fast -and he could not tell what was being on camera. So he would get "blue in the face trying to hold his breath-because it could be seen.",.

Overall Bale thought it took 50 days to shoot then he said something about 3 months. But with the last scene they ran out of time...

They were asked about performing with a great ensemble cast. And different acting styles. It was said  by the moderator that she understood:  Logan Lerman (will) avoided formal classes,. They later addressed this by saying that Logan watched many movies on his time off-so he was getting classes of a sort.  Bale said: as far

As styles were concerned...He ignored the styles of others. What mattered was what was getting done at the end of the day. It did not matter if one did method acting or not... (here he imitiated a method actor saying dialogue). Just don't mess with what he has to do, his own style.  And for him it could be different techniques used on any given day.

Bale and Lerman" The young man was orgionally very respectful to Bale. But that disappeared very fast-and he would make fun of Bale. He would impersonate him in a scene, and so forth. He complimented Logan by saying there are very few young actors who don't look like young actors -rather then the characters. But Logan was the character.

Questions from the audience: Ben was asked: about him killing Dan -and making a wrong decision to do so-when Wade had told him not to. What ran thru his mind?

He thought -Charlie thought he did something well-he did not overthink it.  Also it

Was a real gift working with Bale and Crowe.  Then in defense of the character's actions which got him shot... he said: " we all get fucked up."

Another person from audience stated the "Dialogue was consistent in the film.  At this point they were asked if there was anyone helping with the dialogue. Bale had

Forgotten about Judy Dickerson.  I actually said her name out loud when Ben mentioned her-but that she worked primarily mostly with Russell. And she did a good job.  At this point Bale was trying to make amends for forgetting her.

Bale states: he tends to decide on the dialect beforehand and then continue it during the shoot. 

Asked about prepping for roles. Bale said with "3: 10" read -but important to have other distractions. He likes to have a firm idea going into in-but willing to accept change and enjoy it. Ben stated-it was very helpful riding in the desert. Riding a horse was like a meditation-and had a special relationship with the gun, He loved smelling the gun-- . and the elements.  It was slam going from being a city guy one in the country." Bale said: prepping -things change with each film. Mentioned a film called "newsies" and said to see what was in that one.  Ben tried not to overthink the role, try different tools-some don't work. Can find connections in an audition and the theater, and when you are on the shoot, What works-in a gentle way."Again method actors were referred to-=-=with what would they do?  Not always have the luxury though to prep. For an audition or role. It goes out of the head into the body. 

Favorite scene: Ben: when Dan says goodbye to his wife. Why? Thought Bale starting and Gretchen -was  (not sure what was said here)

Bale: Anything  Ben was in (think he was referring to Charlie ) as Ben laughed.

Bale said he does not hanker to do a role on stage -to do theater.

There was a question about Dan watching Ben Wade and Charlie watching Wade.

What was done nonverbally. Bale said: some of it was not in the script.

Bale and Russell: There was an antithesis how a man should be.or might be., RC(Ben) was seen by Dan as someone who yes did kill, etgcL but he was intelligent, simple,had a certain wisdom.  He had a strange respect for Wade....for Ben's simplicity.  Dan believed in truth and in the film-Ben Wade is actually the only character who was really completely truthful,":  Wade would say it like it was. Wade clarified who they were. Dan found Ben interesting.

At this point Bale made a comment to someone in the audience about them snoring. Thought "Yuma " would of kept them awake. (not sure if he was teasing or serious here ). 

Bale is looking  to the future0-He is certain while he is lucky-he is sure there might be times when he will be unlucky as well. He stated when it goes well when you are working in the business-- /role-You love it. When it goes bad-there are other feelings.  There are times when you think you might not do this anymore-but becoming a doctor takes too long to study. And besides  something comes along.

There are great highs and lows.

Ben stated: it was exciting to watch films as a child and now he works in them. He has done everything wrong at an audtion.  Besides he wondered-why can't they tell you what they are looking for-when you audition -instead of doing it and being told it was all wrong. In the industry-indeed in the world-it takes courage-to open yourself up, to get stomped on-but not let them get you down. Films can be cathartic.  Nobility to performance.

Bale: "never did a good audition in his life-" he can be really bad-but he continues to talk about it and discuss it (like he did with Mangold) to get a role.

Auditions can be demoralizing -liken them to the "Price is right". You have to guess what they really want ".  He hopes there is a better way to assess in the future.

At the end of the Q&A-both men did stay for awhile to talk , sign autographs, have photos taken. I did speak with Ben - whom I had met at the Premiere-and he liked the "3:10" shirt I was wearing,  he asked me how many times I have seen it-I could not honestly tell him .. we did talk about other things. By the time I got over to Bale's side-he wanted to leave-and was doing so==so did not speak with him, get an autograph. Did take some photos of both men-but are not attached to this rather long report.

Gayle-Lynne