Tuesday, 1 August 2017

GARDEN OF EVIL (1954) Directed by Henry Hathaway,


Visually splendid Western with a first class cast that is badly let down by a stodgy script. The film is a big budget adventure  but fails to deliver any action until the last twenty five minutes preferring to  rely on endless talk. These stars are always watchable and Cooper always adds dignity and gravitas to any role - although here his character is  sketchily drawn and poor old Coop often seems ill at ease - understandably as his character could easily be dropped from the plot without much affecting the story. Motivations are all over the place. When the Indians finally attack we are presented with Apache Indians (in Mexico) who sport Mohawk style hair cuts. Budd Boetticher made a similar mistake with another tribe in the otherwise superior COMANCHE STATION. Rating : **

Gary Cooper and Richard Widmark

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