This is a pretty good Western, from an expert in the field (Hathaway) – immeasurably aided by its star cast (Gary Cooper, Susan Hayward, Richard Widmark, Hugh Marlowe and Cameron Mitchell), a compelling plot line (three adventurers help a woman save her husband, trapped in a mine, then fight over her and the couple’s gold), the pleasant Widescreen photography (the format was still a new fad at the time), and a magnificent score (courtesy of the great Bernard Herrmann). Perhaps wisely, the script doesn’t overly stress the pretentiousness inherent in the film’s title. Incidentally, yet another contemporaneous Western pitting one woman among several desperate men in a remote landscape was THE NAKED SPUR (1953), one of the well-regarded series of Anthony Mann/James Stewart Westerns – as in that film, the central group here has to contend also with a horde of marauding Indians.<br /><br />Cooper, the nominal lead, had just had a career resurgence with his Oscar-winning performance in another genre outing – the classic HIGH NOON (1952); as I said in my review of YELLOW SKY (1948), which I’ve just watched, Widmark’s role here was kind of similar to the one he played in that earlier Western – though, by now, he had begun to stretch effectively from outright villain types. The two stars work well off each other: Cooper is laconic but experienced and essentially honest, while Widmark is cynical and opportunistic yet effortlessly charming; interestingly, Cooper was often paired with younger but equally tough men around this time – such as Anthony Quinn in BLOWING WILD (1953), Widmark here, Burt Lancaster in VERA CRUZ (1954) and Charlton Heston in THE WRECK OF THE MARY DEARE (1959).<br /><br />Mitchell’s brash and gullible character is pretty much a stock figure in this type of adventure: the scene where he’s provoked by Cooper into a confrontation, eventually exposing his innate cowardice, emerges as one of the film’s highlights. Marlowe and Hayward’s relationship, too, is typically lukewarm; the latter was one of the foremost dramatic actresses of the era, though she appeared in a fair number of action-oriented pictures. The supporting cast, then, includes only one prominent role for a Mexican – yet another member of the group who, in defiance of the Indian onslaught, expires in a hail of arrows – whereas young Rita Moreno’s saloon singer proves to be the only other female character in the film.<br /><br />P.S. I own a copy of the bare-bones R2 DVD of GARDEN OF EVIL; the upcoming R1 edition should be a SE and include an Audio Commentary – and, as far as I can tell, it’s only going to be available as part of a 3-Disc Collection also comprising two other classic Westerns from the Fox studio: THE GUNFIGHTER (1950; which I already own on R2 as well) and RAWHIDE (1951; not available elsewhere)...