Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Three Awesome Westerns In One Great Collection, March 15, 2008
Three long overdue for DVD Westerns are together in one collection. Each of these movies are great individually, but together, makes this a must-have Western film. Here are the three films -
Rawhide - Rawhide deserves not only a DVD release, but recognition as one of the greatest Westerns ever. Taut, masterful direction by the great Henry Hathaway, and excellent perfomances by everyone makes this a must have film for anyone who loves the Western genre.
Tyrone Power and Susan Hayward are trapped at a stage way station by a gang of desperate criminals. Surprises and tragedy unfold as Power, Hayward, and Hayward's baby try to survive and outwit the criminals.
There are scenes in this film that are so tense that even today's hardened, jaded moviegoers will appreciate. This was not a film with larger than life heroes or cardboard cutout villains, but real people well portrayed with great lines from a magnificent script.
The Gunfighter - Gregory Peck, with his natural, spare acting style, and his folksy, plain demeanor, was a natural for Westerns, and his greatness in this genre was never more evident in this 1950 film, which was one of the earlier psychological Westerns.
Peck plays Jimmie Ringo, the most notorious gunfighter in the West, is running from the brothers of a man he killed. He shows up in a town where his ex-wife lives with their young son. Ringo holds up in the town saloon as a favor to the town marshal, who an old friend, while he waits for an opportunity to see his wife.
Meanwhile, the town is taken over with the nervous enthusiasm of people wanting to see a celebrity, a shootout, or a dead celebrity. At the same time, a young punk, would-be gunfighter has heard that Ringo is in town, and is itching to make his reputation off of killing Ringo.
Everyone delivers excellent performances, and the movie has a lot to say about voyeurism, celebrity, longing, and regret. This is a fantastic movie, and without question, one of the best Westerns ever made.
Garden of Evil - This great Western was never even released on VHS, much less video, which is a shame since it had great performance from two great Western actors, Gary Cooper and Richard Widmark. Cooper, Widmark, and two other soldiers of fortune, played by Cameron Mitchell and Victor Manuel Mendoza, arrive in Mexico having responded to an add to make lots of money. They are greeted by Susan Hayward, who takes them on a perilous journey to rescue her husband, who has been injured in a mining accident. If the journey and the rescue weren't hard enough, the location of the mine in in Indian territory. Soon, alliances are made, broken, and remade, and emotions, greed, and violence ensues.
This film may be regarded as the least of the three by some, but it has terrific acting by all, and is a wonderful showcase of Cooper beginning the twilight phase of his magnificent career, where he tended to play veteran loners who find that they still have lots to live for, and who usually finds love and renewed courage along the way.
All three films are excellent, and should have merited individual releases, making this release combining all three is even more special.
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38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"FOX WESTERN CLASSICS"- 3 DVD BOX SET, March 2, 2008
At long last "The Garden of Evil"(Color 1954) even if it is included in a trilogy with two other great western movies "Rawhide" and "The Gunfighter", in a collection called "Fox Western Classics". These are great western films, but to me the crown jewel is "Garden of Evil". An extraordinary western with a star studded cast that includes, Gary Cooper, Susan Hayward, Richard Widmark, Cameron Mitchell, Victor Manuel Mendoza and Rita Moreno. This one alone "is worth the ticket". You will not be sorry in purchasing the unique box set. If you like westerns, do not miss this one. I highly recommend it.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
GARDEN OF EVIL highlights Forgotten Classic Westerns, April 1, 2008
1954's GARDEN OF EVIL is a Western rich with characterization that seems stereotypical on the surface, but on analysis, runs much deeper. Susan Hayward (an enigmatic heroine) hires a group of stranded travelers in a Mexican waterfront town to follow her to a remote mine where her husband is trapped. The adventurous group is comprised of Gary Cooper (the upright, moralistic hero), Richard Widmark (a cynical witticism spouting gambler), Victor Manuel Mendoza (the good-natured Mexican guide) and Cameron Mitchell (the back-shooting kid gunslinger). They must traverse perilous and dangerous Indian territory to get to the mine, but their motives are unclear. Is it the trapped man, the lure of gold or the subdued sexual attraction that Hayward exudes that drives them? The narrative is a study of personalities in conflict, their motivations, loyalties, cowardice and heroism. Richard Widmark's character comes off as the most interesting. He lingers in the viewer's mind long after the film is over and the question is raised - which is the more honorable: the moralistic hero or the dubiously elegant yet noble rogue? Henry Hathaway is a director known for atmosphere, character and authentic locations. He combines mood and action. This film has all those elements. It is beautifully photographed, yet the picturesque landscapes are juxtaposed with disturbingly photographed death scenes, menacing ever-lurking Indians (always photographed from a distance) and even mysterious looking set designs. The church bell tower sprouting up from the dried lava is all that remains of the town outside the mine and is symbolically ominous in appearance. Frank Fenton's screenplay is filled with vague dialog and only adds to the total feeling of uneasiness that permeates this film. Bernard Herrmann's score accentuates the moodiness of this haunting adventure tale, itself also vague and non-specific. It is very untypical of the Hollywood Western. He achieved a recurrent sense of ominous fate throughout this entire film without the score ever entering into the psychological realm. This is by no means a minor score by Herrmann and I rank this as one of his great scores. GARDEN OF EVIL under Henry Hathaway's direction intelligently yet emotionally integrates the psychological aspects of his characters and even the threatening locale into the action elements found in the standard Western genre to create an unnerving and very thought provoking experience.
1950's THE GUNFIGHTER directed by Henry King is a great character study of the larger than life notion of the hired gunman. Gregory Peck's performance breaks down the mythology of the Western gunman and makes him a real a man who had hopes and aspirations and saw those dreams slip through his fingers and blow away like tumbleweed. The script by William Bowers, William Sellers, André De Toth and Nunnally Johnson develop a familiar theme that is so central to many Westerns since. The focus is on the one way of life that has been outlived by time, the collapse of open space and the indistinct progress of civilization. And if that way of life has been characterized by human failures and transgressions, is redemption through a return to a conventional life possible? Alfred Newman's score is very thought provoking and subtle and is a important enhancement to this central theme. THE GUNFIGHTER also has a strong cast that strengthens the narrative with the likes of Karl Malden, Skip Homeier, Richard Jaeckel, Kenneth Tobey, Ellen Corby, Helen Westcott and Alan Hale Jr.
1951's RAWHIDE also directed by Henry Hathaway is a solid entry in the Western genre strong on character motivations and building suspense as outlaws hold citizens captive in a stagecoach station. It has a superlative cast including Tyrone Power, Susan Hayward, Dean Jagger, Jack Elam, Edgar Buchanan, Hugh Marlowe, Kenneth Tobey and George Tobias. Thomas Little and Stuart A. Reiss designed the primary sets with art designs by Lyle Wheeler and George W. Davis and great camera work by cinematographer Milton Krasner all essential to the central story. Composers Sol Kaplan and Lionel Newman turned in an interesting score.
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