Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

vorkapich Scanning the reviews on IMDB, I don't see that anyone has noted that this is an adaptation of the film version of King Solomon's Mines, which had been a big hit for MGM a few years prior. In tried and true Hollywood tradition, if something works once, then do it again, and Twentieth Century Fox did, turning some good coin.Also tried and (pretty) true is Coop, in his usual Western mode. He's not asked to do anything more. Widmark adds some vinegar to the proceedings in a variation on the cynical character he was often cast in at Fox. But he redeems himself in the end. Mitchell seems too mature to be the guy who gets carried away with a case of the hots for the Hayward character, but he turns in a strong performance. Hayward stays intense in the limited role of the determined woman/femme fatale, but she sometimes seems as if she wished she were on a sound stage, instead of in the rugged Mexican locale where most of the film was made. This is a strikingly scenic film, beautifully filmed - a top-flight production. There are also some striking examples of a Henry Hathaway trademark: rough action. The Mitchell character experiences this is in two instances: one where for some reason he can't keep out of a campfire, the other when he meets his end in a remarkable bit of stunt work. One distracting note, or rather many notes, is the churning, whooping, crashing score by Bernard Herrmann. All of Herrmann's tendencies to extravagant mood-setting are liberally employed. The central trope of the film being the Garden of Evil, the motifs tend to churning dissonance. At times, this viewer was prepared for some prehistoric monster to come around a rock, the score is so like the scores he did for Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Mysterious Island, et al. Whether the producer or Hathaway thought that a Cinemascope film needed a Big Touch, (probably the former), they should have toned it down.All in all, a professionally done bit of diversion from the last phase of the Hollywood studio system; a guilty pleasure if one doesn't overthink the premise and the clichés (Apaches - supposedly savvy fighters - ride headlong into rifle fire and keep getting shot down before they figure out a flanking move, etc.)

ArtChee I have LONG been a GARY COOPER fan. So, I was anxious to watch this film that doesn't show up often on TV. "Disappointment" is my best word to describe my viewing. Cooper is his usual "stand up" man, but minimally so. Richard Widmark is Richard Widmark. Cameron Mitchell is like an actor in a high school play. Hugh Marlow is not much better. The dialogue is a constant bickering about who is telling who what to do. The setting/scenery is exceptional. Especially the mountain cliff with the matt paintings, which are convincing.If you want a REALLY GOOD Gary Cooper western, look up "DALLAS" with Ruth Roman and Raymond Massey. "Garden of Evil" is simply a waste of 2 hours.

FightingWesterner 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.

Ernie 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.