The “Garden Of Evil” presents a fairly straight-forward and borderline run-of-the-mill story, set to an outstanding soundtrack and spectacular visuals. Gary Cooper puts in his usual excellent portrayal of a western gun man, Hugh Marlow gives a convincing performance as a desperate prospector, Richard Widmark plays the cranky suspicious card shark, Cameron Mitchell portrays a man with a sorted past and a soul that needs redeeming, Victor Mendoza plays a solid Mexican local trying to get the most of the adventure, and Susan Hayward carries them all away with her incredible performance as someone that will stop at nothing to achieve her goals. The music by Bernard Hermann, the on location scenery and Susan Hayward’s performance are clearly the stars of the show. Henry Hathaway does a competent job in the director’s chair. The movie is entertaining in the old Saturday double-feature sort of way.

Here are two excellent videos on YouTube for those wanting to do a deeper dive into Bernard Hermann’s life and music. The documentary titled “Music For The Movies: Bernard Hermann“ goes into great depth on Hermann’s life and influences as well as his influence on Hollywood film scoring. The short analysis of Vertigo by Neil Brand gives a whole new appreciation to the genius of Bernard Hermann’s score for the film. Perhaps the most perfect melding of visuals, story and music in the history of cinema?

Here’s the IMDB link for “Garden Of Evil”

Up next, it’s “The Wrong Man”

And after that we “Journey To The Center Of The Earth”