Garden of Evil is a 1954 American CinemaScope Western film directed by Henry Hathaway about three somewhat disreputable 19th-century soldiers of fortune, played by Gary Cooper as an ex-lawman, Richard Widmark as a gambler, and Cameron Mitchell as a bounty hunter, who, along with Vicente, played by Víctor Manuel Mendoza, are hired by a woman (Susan Hayward) to rescue her husband (Hugh Marlowe), who is trapped in a collapsed mine. Rita Moreno appears at the beginning of the film as a Mexican cantina singer/dancer. Director Hathaway took special pains to use the stunning vistas of the Mexican locations to show off the CinemaScope screen dimensions to best effect.

Plot

Three American adventurers are stranded in a Mexican fishing village when their ship develops engine trouble. As they discuss their options in a local saloon, Leah Fuller, whose husband John is trapped in a distant gold mine, enters. She offers them $2,000 each, tossing a bag of coins on their table. Her gesture attracts the attention of another saloon customer, Vicente, who accepts. The Americans -- an ex-sheriff named Hooker, a gambler dubbed Fiske, and a young upstart bounty hunter -- sign on as well.