Garden of Evil Gary Cooper Richard Widmark

directed by Henry Hathaway
USA 1954

Stranded in Mexico, three gold diggers are hired by woman in distress to help her wounded husband. They road is long and full of dangers, both from the Indians and themselves.

A routine western, very predictable, which seems more like a vehicle for the scope format, than its stars. Widmark is cock-sure as always, Cooper is wise as always, Hayward looks damn good and Bernard Herrmann made a great score.

Henrik Sylow

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Theatrical Release: July 9, 1954

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Recommended Reading for Western Genre Fans (CLICK COVERS or TITLES for more information)


The Crowded Prairie: American National Identity in the Hollywood Western (Cinema and Society) by Michael Coyne	The Invention of the Western Film : A Cultural History of the Genre's First Half Century (Genres in American Cinema S.) by Scott Simmon	The Searchers (Bfi Film Classics) by Edward Buscombe	The Western Genre by John Saunders	Westerns: Films through History (AFI Film Readers) by Janet Walker	The Encyclopedia of Westerns (The Facts on File Film Reference Library) by Herb Fagen, Tom Selleck	Gunfighter Nation: The Myth of the Frontier in Twentieth-Century America by Richard Slotkin	The Western (Inside Film) by David Lusted	Red River (Bfi Film Classics) by Suzanne Liandrat-Guigues

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DVD Review: Optimum Classics (Western Classics) - Region 2 - PAL

Big thanks to Henrik Sylow for the Review!

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Optimum Classics Region 2 - PAL
	See *HERE* for a comparison with the Region 1 edition in the Fox Western Classics BOXSET
Runtime	1:36:05 (4% PAL speedup)
Video	2.56:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 6.10 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	2.0 Dolby Digital Mono
Subtitles	None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Optimum Classics Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 2.56:1 Edition Details: • None DVD Release Date: February 21, 2005 Keep case Chapters 12

Comments

The source is the complete 100-minute version in its original 2.55:1 cinemascope OAR. While lacking detail and sharpness, and with occasional halos, this is quiet a nice transfer for a DVD-5.

Sound is the original mono, from the optical print. Dialogue is clear and there is no noise.

- Henrik Sylow

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