I think Ben had never seen true integrity before. All the men in this movie had mixed ambitions, mixed ethics, just like when Ben quotes the bible, he is sharing in the hypocrisy. However, Dan continued to show him that he was the real deal. Their first meeting, Ben saw something there- for as cold blooded as he was made out to be he would have gunned Dan and his boys down because they were witnesses. Not that it made any difference, but he could have done it just because he could. If Charlie led the gang, he would have killed them all. No, Ben left them and in addition, left their horses up the road for them, and act of consideration. Next, at the meeting in the bar, you could tell that Ben admired Dan's "spunk" (for lack of a better word). Ben seemed amused by him at first but as he spent more time with him he saw what a consistently good man he was, how he made decisions and how he withstood giving in to temptation and taking the easy way out. When Ben shared with Dan about his abandonment story, that was a sign of trust, which opened up the door for Dan to share about his leg being shot off and then again that he wasn't "stubborn". It was something that friends do and created a bond between them.
So beautifully said that i think you've said it better than everybody else has on here Let_it_Be-1.
It wasn't about loyalty to any gang member like Charlie Prince who was a nasty evil person who had hidden feelings for him in the old West, but that Ben had changed int he short amount of time whereas Charlie and his old gang didn't. He stuck it out with them out of survival reasons and that he was their boss and half the time had to act nasty as they were otherwise he too would've been preyed upon if they sensed weakness in him.
And the times back then were extremely different, as in the time of the gunfighters and cowboys in the old west, trust was a very loose word and there was no honor amongst thieves at all.
Sooner or later Ben probably knew he'd end up dead being in his own gang like that or that Charlie would go psycho on him one day, as eventually even a rabid dog will occasionally; bite his own 'master' metaphorically speaking etc. This is what i mainly love about westerns in general the good ones that is. That they're used to examine issues regarding the; human endevours in different periods of life, relationships and various characteristics of peoples within a storyline setting thats primarily set within the American frontier days or during the Civil War and old West with the great; train revolution era that saw the last days of the old West being taken over by the railroad companies and expansion of land terrorties the government brought up for farming and agriculture anyhow etc.
While its ending isn't happy and it ends on a rather bittersweet tone, clearly the 3:10 to Yuma remake although surprisingly recently remade definitely standby as one of the best all-time westerns in recent memory.
ST4
I'm busy playing KOF 13.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO5hpyaF-KU
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