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Garden of Evil

Garden of Evil

Western · 1954

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

Movie details

Garden of Evil

“Takes you beyond the land of the Black Sand!”

1954 Western 1h 40m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.3 / 10

Community rating

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

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Garden of Evil?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Rio Conchos

Rio Conchos

Western · 1964

Two Army officers, an alcoholic ex-Confederate soldier and a womanizing Mexican travel to Mexico on a secret mission to prevent a megalomaniacal ex-Confederate colonel from selling a cache of stolen rifles to a band of murderous Apaches.

Duel at Diablo

Duel at Diablo

Western · 1966

In Apache territory, a supply Army column heads for the next fort, an ex-scout searches for the killer of his Native wife, and a housewife abandons her husband to rejoin her Apache lover's tribe.

Nevada Smith

Nevada Smith

Western · 1966

Nevada Smith is the young son of an Indian American mother and European-American father. When his father is killed by three men over gold, Nevada sets out to find them and kill them. The boy is taken in by a gun merchant. The gun merchant shows him how to shoot, on time and correctly.

Fort Apache

Fort Apache

Western · 1948

Owen Thursday sees his new posting to the desolate Fort Apache as a chance to claim the military honour which he believes is rightfully his. Arrogant, obsessed with military form and ultimately self-destructive, he attempts to destroy the Apache chief Cochise after luring him across the border from Mexico, against the advice of his subordinates.

True Grit

True Grit

Western · 1969

The murder of her father sends a teenage tomboy on a mission of 'justice', which involves avenging her father's death. She recruits a tough old marshal, 'Rooster' Cogburn because he has 'true grit', and a reputation of getting the job done.

The Spoilers

The Spoilers

Drama · 1942

When honest ship captain Roy Glennister gets swindled out of his mine claim, he turns to saloon singer Cherry Malotte for assistance in his battle with no-good town kingpin Alexander McNamara.

One-Eyed Jacks

One-Eyed Jacks

Western · 1961

Running from the law after a bank robbery in Mexico, Dad Longworth finds an opportunity to take the stolen gold and leave his partner Rio to be captured. Years later, Rio escapes from the prison where he has been since, and hunts down Dad for revenge. Dad is now a respectable sheriff in California, and has been living in fear of Rio's return.

The Man from Laramie

The Man from Laramie

Drama · 1955

Will Lockhart arrives in Coronado, an isolated town in New Mexico, in search of someone who sells rifles to the Apache tribe, finding himself unwillingly drawn into the convoluted life of a local ranching family whose members seem to have a lot to hide.

Major Dundee

Major Dundee

Western · 1965

During the last winter of the Civil War, cavalry officer Amos Dundee leads a contentious troop of Army regulars, Confederate prisoners and scouts on an expedition into Mexico to destroy a band of Apaches who have been raiding U.S. bases in Texas.

The Badlanders

The Badlanders

Western · 1958

Two men are released from the Arizona Territorial Prison at Yuma in 1898. One, The Dutchman, is out to get both gold and revenge from certain people in a small mining town who had him imprisoned unjustly. The other, McBain, is just trying to go straight, but that is easier said than done once The Dutchman involves him in his gold theft scheme. Based on the 1949 novel The Asphalt Jungle by W. R. Burnett, the story is given an 1898 setting. It is the second film adaptation of the novel following 1950's noir classic The Asphalt Jungle.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Henry Hathaway

Written by

Fred Freiberger · Frank Fenton · William Tunberg

Gary Cooper

Gary Cooper

Hooker

Susan Hayward

Susan Hayward

Leah Fuller

Richard Widmark

Richard Widmark

Fiske

Hugh Marlowe

Hugh Marlowe

John Fuller

Cameron Mitchell

Cameron Mitchell

Luke Daly

Rita Moreno

Rita Moreno

Cantina Singer

Víctor Manuel Mendoza

Víctor Manuel Mendoza

Vicente Madariaga

Court is in session

Put Garden of Evil on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Patience is part of the point.”

Duration becomes texture. The film asks you to inhabit its world instead of merely processing its plot.

The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker

“A test of endurance, your honour.”

Stillness keeps submitting itself as meaning. At some point, contemplation needs something worth contemplating.