Garden of Evil (1954)

Wonderful Movie

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Hooker (Gary Cooper), Fiske (Richard Widmark) and Luke Daly (Cameron Mitchell) are stranded in the dusty town of Puerto Miguel, Mexico when their ship breaks down. It will take weeks to fix. Leah Fuller (Susan Hayward) comes to town in need of men to rescue her husband John Fuller (Hugh Marlowe) who is trapped in their mine. Despite the threat of Apache attacks, the three Americans are lured by the promise of $2000 each and they are joined by Vicente Madariaga (Victor Manuel Mendoza).This could be remade into a great modern dark gritty thriller. The adventure is there. The romantic entanglement could be remade into something creepier and more sinister. The combination of Widmark and Cooper is great. I don't really like some of the old fashion sensibilities. This could have been amazingly dark if the characters are more stripped down to their greedy selfish cores.

This long-forgotten western boasts a great cast with Gary Cooper, Susan Hayward, Richard Widmark and Cameron Mitchell, filmed extensively in seldom seen remote Mexican locations. Most of the actors were underused, with the exception of Susan Hayward who gave a committed performance while both Coop and Widmark practically 'walked through' this film, albeit under arduous conditions. This is primarily due to a weak storyline which veteran director Henry Hathaway couldn't do anything about. A band of soldier of fortune landed somewhere in Mexico and met a woman(Hayward) who seek help to rescue her injured husband in a far away mine(gold) offering a large sum of money(gold coins). The ride took days with ominous attacks by Apache along the way. The rescue was a failure and the group had to ride back to safety for survival. A forgettable western.

Who would think a line up like Gary Cooper, Richard Widmark, and Susan Hayward, could lend themselves to such a disaster.Garden of evil was slow, ponderous and boring. You could almost feel the actors were reading their lines from a board.I expected more from all concerned, including the great Henry Hathaway who directed.When the film ended, I felt it should have begun. Off into the sunset they went, and up went the credits.I agree with all the negative comments on here.This movie came across like a bad stage production, wooden.

My $10.99 three DVD set "Fox Western Classics" just arrived on Nov./18/2008. My first pick to watch was not Rawhide or The Gunfighter, the two black and white pictures in the collection, but rather the Technicolor, Garden of Evil.The DVD print of Garden of Evil in the collection was gorgeous, unlike TV viewings of that movie I have seen. The "Fox Western Classics" DVD version of Garden of Evil reminded me in terms of picture quality of the first time I saw Garden of Evil, on a theater screen when it was originally released in 1954.The movie itself is a fascinating story of greed, fear, honor, love, and lust. The on location scenery in Southern Mexico is spectacular (as seen on the DVD I referred to). The last 31 minutes of the movie in my opinion are the best. Those 31 minutes feature the 6 principle characters in the movie trying to save their lives by fleeing from the apaches who are following them and trying to kill them. Some of the six don't make it and are killed by the Apaches. To see who survives and why be sure to see the movie. P.S. The prints of Rawhide and The Gunfighter the other two westerns in the collection are also very good.