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 randomly hired by a woman portrayed by Susan Hayward, to rescue her husband (Hugh Marlowe).

It was the first outdoor picture photographed in the new CinemaScope anamorphic widescreen process and director Hathaway took special pains to use the stunning vistas of the Mexican locations to show off the new screen dimensions to best effect.

While they discuss their options in a local saloon, Leah Fuller, whose husband John is trapped in a distant gold mine, enters.

During the harrowing journey inland, Leah informs ex-lawman Hooker that the site where her husband is trapped was once a boom town.

Hooker and the gambler, Fiske, draw cards to see which of them will stay behind to hold off the Indians while the other rides with Leah to safety.

Robert L. Jacks was originally set to produce, but he left 20th Century-Fox to join Panoramic Productions and was replaced by Charles Brackett.

Outdoor sequences were shot on location in Mexico, at "the colonial town" of Tepotzotlán, in the jungle areas near Acapulco, Parícutin volcano with the church ruin of Nuevo San Juan Parangaricutiro, and the village of Guanajuato with the then-unrestored church ruins of Templo Santiago Apóstol, Marfil.

[4] The New York Times reviewer wrote, "Although the story and its fireworks are interesting, they are dwarfed by the rugged mountains and lush coconut and banana-tree jungles of the film's natural settings.