Garden of Evil (1954)

Henry Hathaway reunites w/Susan Hayward in this stylish Western. Richard Widmark & Gary Cooper arrive in town looking for some action when Hayward bursts in offering them a reward to save her husband hurt in the mine they own. With natives on the warpath (are there any other kind?) & on their heels, the trio makes tracks. An impressive chase sequence through a mountain pass highlights the climactic ending.

Given the choice between Gary Cooper, Richard Widmark, and Cameron Mitchell, who would you choose? Richard Widmark, duh! Watch Garden of Evil to see if Susan Hayward is as smart as you are. In the film, the three Americans are shipwrecked on the coast of Mexico, on their way to search for gold in California. Susan Hayward storms into town and offers $1,000 a piece if they ride with her back to a collapsed goldmine and rescue her husband. At first, Dick and Gary are only interested in the money, but soon they join Cameron's camp and start to notice the beauty of their travelling companion. I love Susan Hayward, so I was looking forward to some seriously steamy scenes with her and hunky Richard Widmark, but it wasn't that kind of a movie. There are battle scenes against the Apaches, a mysterious storyline, and a love triangle that will keep you on the edge of your seat, but that's all. While Susan is tough and sexy, Gary is monotonous and boring. The fact that he's even in contention is a puzzlement. If you like Suzy or Gary, or 1950s westerns, feel free to rent this one. It's not my favorite though, probably because I've only liked Gary Cooper in a couple of films, and this isn't one of them.

Garden Of Evil is an entertaining and well made Technicolor/Cinemascope adventure that shows a part of Mexico's interior not usually shown in western pictures.The plot involves Gary Cooper and his treasure seeking pals being paid to rescue Susan Hayward's husband from a collapsed goldmine located in the supposedly cursed title area. Little do they know that the local superstitious natives are enraged at their encroachment.Things get a little odd with every character (save the always laid back Cooper) becoming very melodramatic, especially Hugh Marlowe as Hayward's husband. His performance crosses the line into overacting as every bit of dialog he mutters is in the form of a rant!Also on the verge of of overacting is Cameron Mitchell as the "kid" of the bunch. In my mind's eye he'll always be the older overweight actor I remember from numerous films of the late sixties and early seventies. It's very strange to see him young and lean.It was a good call on the part of the filmmakers to not show the furious natives until near the end and then only show brief glimpses. As the unseen menace, it really heightened the atmosphere of dread and helped build tension, making the eventual appearance of the Indians a frightening matter.The final act is exciting, scary, and suspenseful.

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.