The Guns of Fort Petticoat
The Guns of Fort Petticoat
NR | 01 April 1957 (USA)
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Opposing his commanding officer's decision to attack a group of innocent Indians and wipe them out, Lt. Frank Hewitt leaves his post and heads home to Texas. He knows that the attack will send all of the tribes on the warpath and he wants to forewarn everyone. He gets a chilly reception back home however. With most of the men away having enlisted in the Confederate army Frank, a Union officer, is seen by the local women as a traitor. He convinces them of the danger that lies ahead and trains them to repel the attack that will eventually come.

Reviews
Scanialara

You won't be disappointed!

SunnyHello

Nice effects though.

Robert Joyner

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

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Kaelan Mccaffrey

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

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weezeralfalfa

One of several films that includes the infamous massacre of a peaceful Cheyenne village at Sand Creek, CO, simply because it was the most accessible location for the perpetrator: Colonel Chivington of the Colorado Territorial Militia(herein claimed to be of the US army). Other films include "Massacre at Sand Creek" and "Soldier Blue". Also, partway through the film, we switched from marauding Cheyenne to marauding Comanche, who would be more relevant to Texas. I'm sure there must be other films where a mass of women took over the usual duties of soldiers because the men were needed elsewhere. I'm familiar with "Wild Women", in which a group of women inmates of a fort prison cell are pressed into service in lower Texas, barricading an abandoned village to fight a Mexican patrol. Another example is "The Man from the Alamo", where Glenn Ford trains the women in a wagon train to fire on a Mexican patrol, after the men are called to join Sam Houston.Audie rides around the north Texas plains, convincing menless women to go to an old broken down mission for safety. Besides Audie, the only man in the mission was Kettle. He came to no good when he stole a horse and rode to his 3 buddies, who promptly strung him up after he told about the women. They came to the mission , but the women scared them off after it was obvious they were up to no good. But, they soon ran into a band of marauding Comanche. Telling them about the women, they rode together back to the mission. But the women had hidden themselves well, so that a superficial look by the Comanche failed to discover them. The 3 men were killed for leading the Comanche astray. Soon there after, a gun was accidentally discharged in the mission, alerting the Comanche that someone was there. The Comanche returned and fired on the fort, killing several women, until Audie sneaked out and killed their medicine man, in the rear, stringing up his body in front of the fort.In the finale, Audie is court martialed by his Union post for desertion and insubordination. But the women somehow got past the guards, into the interrogation room, corroborating what Audie said about their beating off the Comanche. The General decided to drop the charges, and instead served Chivington with a court martial for leading the massacre of Cheyenne. Historically, Chivington was not court martialed. However, he was roundly criticized. He claimed he killed around 200 warriors, but other witnesses said they were mostly women, children and old men. He claimed the massacre would cow the Indians into stopping their raids on settlers, but it had the opposite effect.See it in color at YouTube

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Caz1964

Very entertaining western from the late 50's ,Audie Murphy stars as a Texan who joins the Union side during the American civil war,much to the annoyance of his fellow Texans. The Union army then go on to attack a peaceful Indian settlement which he is very much against and because of this he deserts. Because he believes the Indians will want revenge he quickly goes back to Texas to warn the homesteaders of future Indian attacks.When he arrives home there is only women left as the men have all gone away to fight in the Civil war,the women all distrust him because he is wearing the Unionists colours and they only see him as a traitor. After the body of a young woman is found killed by an arrow he manages to finally convince the women that what he has been saying is true. They then all take refuge in an abandoned mission where he trains them to fight and shoot in anticipation of an attack,they also learn how to make bombs.The only other man at the mission runs off and joins up with a gang who after they kill him lead the Indians back to the mission. The women end up surrounded and outnumbered and very bravely fight off the final Indian assault with Murphys help of coarse.The Guns Of Fort Petticoat is a sort of what-if film thats very ahead of its time ,its the sort of storyline that you would expect to be made today and not back in the 50's.It has its amusing moments and it also has romance and some pretty interesting fight scenes.It may all sound a bit far-fetched but it does work especially when quite a few of the women get killed,which under the circumstances is bound to happen. The characters are interesting {if not a little clichéd}and Audie Murphy does give a very good performance and convinces us that this could have happened. This is a very entertaining little film that im glad has been forgotten.

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aravis3

OK, this film is goofy, but that's what makes it so good. I have watched it twice, and I love it. This was the first full film I had seen with Audie Murphy, and now, I'd like to see more of his work. Since he was a Texas boy, (I'm a native of Texas as well) he's proof that talent comes out of Texas. It's certainly better than a lot of the junk out in the world right now, and westerns nowadays have none of the luster that the old ones do. Maybe it's because they axed the sexual content and more of the language and blood violence. Certainly, this ranks along with: McLintock!, Calamity Jane, the Apple Dumpling Gang, Apple Dumpling Gang Rides AGain, Angel and the Badman, etc......(You can tell I like JOhn Wayne's stuff and Don Knotts) anyway. One of the best westerns, and it had (has) an excellent cast.

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akatz70

The man who left the mission did not tell the Indians about the women at the mission. That was done by three "bad guys" he told. As was usual for movies of the 50's, they came to bad end. The theme is a morality play as were most westerns. It was also of interest to see Kathryn Grayson before she married Bing Crosby. There is little to give one a reason to watch except for nostalgia. It must have been released as a "B" movie even though Audie Murphy was a star of sorts. For an hour of time requiring suspension of belief and no worries about thinking, this is just the one to watch. I would rate it as a five at most! You can probably catch it on cable on the Western Channel.

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