Garden of Evil (1954)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Henry Hathaway

Writers:

Fred Freiberger (story) and
William Tunberg (story) ...

Release Date:

9 July 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Romance | Western

Tagline:

Takes you beyond the land of the Black Sand!

Plot:

A trio of American adventurers marooned in rural Mexico are recruited by a beautiful woman to rescue her husband from Apaches.

Plot Keywords:

Gold | Gold Mine | Mine | Husband | Mexico

Cast

Gary Cooper	...	Hooker
Susan Hayward	...	Leah Fuller
Richard Widmark	...	Fiske
Hugh Marlowe	...	John Fuller
Cameron Mitchell	...	Luke Daly
Rita Moreno	...	Cantina Singer
Víctor Manuel Mendoza	...	Vicente Madariaga

Runtime:

100 min | USA:96 min (FMC Library Print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints) | Mono (Western Electric Recording) (35 mm optical prints)

Certification:

Germany:12 | West Germany:12 (f) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:Btl | USA:Approved (PCA #16963, General Audience)

Filming Locations:

Mexico City, México D.F., Mexico

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Goofs:

Factual errors: The firearms being used belong to the period from about 1870 to 1880. If this film was set during the California gold rush period of 1849 the weapons should all be percussion cap and black powder. Repeating rifles weren't developed until late in the Civil War.

Quotes:

Fiske: Takin' four men like us to a mountain of gold!
Hooker: She took what there was.
Fiske: Yeah, that's true. The barrel was empty. She scraped the bottom.

Soundtrack:

Aqui

A party of western adventurers trek through Mexico in search of a gold mine. After finding it, they must make the return trip through the Garden of Evil.

Gary Cooper, Susan Hayward, and Richard Widmark are on a trip through the wilds of Mexico in search of gold. Hayward's husband was injured in a cave-in at the mine, and she has offered the party a share of the wealth if they will help her injured husband. It sounds simple enough, but there's only one small problem--a band of Apaches that are on the hunt for white scalps. However, the lure of the prospects of wealth spur the group on to the mine, and they reach the mine, save the husband, but now face the dangers posed by the Apaches.

Each character offers some sense of presence to the film; Cooper is able to portray the silent, strength of character person, while Widmark adds a philosophical, yet cynical, view of life in his role as Fiske, a gambler. Cameron Mitchell and a Mexican guide are along, with each hoping for the gold, and the good life it will bring. And, each person has to face the danger posed in the "Garden of Evil." Susan Hayward manages to keep the group together, but only till they reach the mine. After that, it becomes a tale of who will survive.