The Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957) Reviews

• Alamo, Rorke's Drift, only with lots of cool women!

  Spikeopath2009-01-22

  Lt. Frank Hewitt absconds from the Union Army to warn fellow Texans that Indian attacks are inevitable due to a massacre at Sand Creek. What he finds is that all the men are away fighting in the Confederate Army so the homesteaders are mainly made up of women. Having to first earn their respect and trust, he convinces them to prepare for an Indian attack at a dilapidated mission station, teaching the majority of them to shoot and fend for themselves in hand to hand combat. Badly outnumbered when the day comes, it will take more than the hand of god to stop this from being another massacre to further darken the South. What an absolute blast this picture is, for sure it's steeped in B movie traditions, but led by the amiable Audie Murphy as Hewitt, the picture is certainly most engaging and never lets the discerning viewer down. Perhaps struggling to shake off the need to be overtly serious, it is none the less dramatic at times and not without serious moments that put the ladies of the piece firmly in a good light. It's not a feminist picture of course because the characters still need their men to be with them, Hewitt naturally creates a little pitter-patter amongst some of the women, what the picture chiefly portrays is that these gals can step up to the plate when required, and more crucially, the film doesn't rely on sentimentality to raise the picture's worth. Kathryn Grant (soon to me Mrs Bing Crosby), Hope Emerson, Jeanette Nolan, Peggy Maley and Patricia Tiernan are just some of the female cast that make this a hugely enjoyable picture. From the intriguing training sequences as Hewitt gets tough with the gals, to the thrilling rush of the Indian attack on the mission, The Guns Of Fort Petticoat is a very enjoyable Western that most certainly doesn't waste the time of the viewer. 7/10

• southern who joined union during civil war returns home to rally women against raiding Indians

  dougbrode2006-03-13

  As every Audie Murphy buff knows, his best western was the near-classic No Name On the Bullet, with perhaps Destry a close second. But in the top three (setting the short but brilliant Red Badge of Courage and the autobiographical To Hell and Back, an A movie, aside), Guns of Fort Petticoat is at the top of the list, owing to splendid outdoor action sequences, a smart sense of humor that doesn't allow anyone to take this all too seriously, and . . . to put it bluntly . . . sex appeal. Also, a political consciousness, with Murphy a) going north, despite his being a southwesterner, to fight in the civil war because he's against slavery, and b) his attempt to try and stop the Sand Creek Massacre and save Native American lives. (One historical error: The massacre was not perpetrated by 'regular U.S. army,' as the film suggests, but by a self-styled civilian-soldier group called a 'militia outfit' though really noting more than racist vigilantes.) Knowing that an Indian war is impending, Murphy returns to the war torn southwest and, with men absent, trains women to fight and defend themselves. Something of a feminist western, way ahead of its time, but (thankfully) no polemics, only action, romance, and surprisingly effective comedy. Kathryn Grant makes an adorable female lead for Audie.

• Audie Get Your Gun!

  Poseidon-32003-10-07

  The title of this film almost sounds like it will be a comedy.....sort of like "F Troop" meets "Petticoat Junction". It is, however, a relatively serious affair with some decent action sequences and some (sometimes unintentional) amusing moments. Murphy stars as a Cavalry Lieutenant who deserts his post in order to go a warn the people of his nearby hometown of an impending Indian attack. Unfortunately, virtually every man is gone from the area and the remaining women all resent him for wearing the blue instead of the gray uniform. Once the Indians start to make their mark, the ladies begin to change their mind and Murphy rounds them all up in an abandoned mission, determined to convert them into soldiers for their own sake. An already slightly campy film (check out the Indian grandma doing a child's hair at her camp right before a marauding cavalry unit appears), gets even loonier at this point. The mere idea of women brandishing guns and fighting physically must have been otherworldly in 1957. The enterprise is treated with all the expected attention and detail for the curio that it is. Murphy refers to the ladies as "men" and appoints sergeants, etc... He drills them in target practice, hand to hand combat and skirt-tucking (turning skirts into makeshift pants!) Naturally, there is every type of woman imaginable.....the old love, the new love, the haughty rich bitch, the one "in trouble", the religious fanatic, the tart, etc... What gives the film a great boost in the arm is the irascible, irreplaceable presence of burly, sarcastic Emerson as the leader of the women. Always intriguing to watch, she gets a plum role here as a bossy, tough, but good-hearted pioneer woman. It also helps that the film isn't dumb enough to suggest that this sort of thing wouldn't lead to casualties. So the unusual aspect of seeing women holding a fort with guns is accented and enhanced by seeing some of them take a fall as well. This adds to the realism of a film which is, at heart, pretty trite and coy. There are some fairly tough scenes and the Indian attack is actually pretty tense. (And it's awful nice of the Indians to wait and WAIT before coming until Murphy has trained all the gals, drained the water from the well, taught them how to make "bombs" and ammunition and solved various other problems!) Maley as a saloon singer and Elsom as a society matron help push the camp envelope. A few other ladies (like the one who gets upset and literally gobbles like a turkey with her face in the ground) take it even further, but Nolan rips it open. She is downright embarrassing as a devout Christian who clutches her Bible and spouts messages of nonviolence. However, when push comes to shove and arrows come to necks, she has a freak-out scene that is one for the books! Even with the pat situations and mundane dialogue, there's a certain curiosity value to the film and scattered laughs throughout (Wade, as Elsom's maid, has a real zinger of a closing line for her character!) Grant would later become better known as Mrs. Bing Crosby.

• Audie's Amazon Army

  bkoganbing2005-08-06

  Audie Murphy, a Texan here as well as in real life, stayed with the Union Army during the Civil War. He's drawn duty out west fighting Indians instead of Confederates. The real life Sand Creek Massacre of the Cheyenne has occurred and there is a total uprising on the frontier. Murphy goes AWOL from the army and back to his part of Texas to help the remaining people there as most of the young men are in the Confederate army. After a lot of convincing he's got himself a female troop that proves themselves quite worthy standing up to Indians and renegade white men. The Guns at Fort Petticoat is one of Audie Murphy's best B westerns in his career. Murphy turned out to be a real acting talent, if he hadn't been, his career wouldn't have lasted as long as it did. He gets some good support here from that distaff group of players assembled at the old mission where they have to stand off the Cheyenne. Hope Emerson is the second in command and as always Hope is a formidable presence on the screen. While this was playing in theaters Kathryn Grant became the second Mrs. Bing Crosby. I happened to meet her a few years ago when she was on a book tour promoting a book about her marriage with Bing. She mentioned that she liked The Guns at Fort Petticoat and wished she owned a copy of the film. If I had known I would have bought my VHS copy and given it to her. She should be proud of her work in this film. There are four nasty men in this film as well. Sean McClory plays a no good rat of a human being who's impregnated Jeff Donnell and runs out on her. Then there are three of the nastiest outlaws you'd ever want to meet in James Griffith, Nestor Paiva, and Ray Teal. Audie and the women have to deal with them also. There is one terribly touching scene that moistens my eyes every time I watch The Guns at Fort Petticoat. One adolescent girl's mom is killed during one of the attacks. Actresses Isobel Elsom and Peggy Miley play a southern dowager and a saloon entertainer respectively. Both of them comfort the young girl at the hour of her tragedy and in so doing prove they have a lot more character than originally thought. A really class piece of acting, brought off by Director George Marshall. Kathryn Crosby, if you happen to read this review, contact me and I'll be glad to give you my copy of The Guns at Fort Petticoat.

• The female version of Alamo!

  Artemis-92002-12-26

  I wonder why no one who commented on this movie before noticed how this is the sort of scenario that made El Alamo the thrilling film it was, and that led to so many re-makes. There is a surrounded group, with no escape, and decided not to surrender to a bitter enemy... That this group was of women only, and that they died battling with bravery, makes me wonder where the cable televisions are, what video producer will discover this gem first - a gem it is, as people who saw this film only had praise for it! I'll be the first to buy a VHS or DVD copy of this film. Just tell me where it is.