The Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957)

Union Army deserter, Lt. Hewitt, trains a rag tag band of all-female homesteaders to defend themselves against a Comanche tribe on the warpath.

Director:

George Marshall

Writers:

Walter Doniger (screenplay), C. William Harrison (story)

Stars:

Audie Murphy, Kathryn Grant, Hope Emerson

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Audie Murphy	...	Lt. Frank Hewitt
Kathryn Grant	...	Anne Martin
Hope Emerson	...	Hannah Lacey
Jeff Donnell	...	Mary Wheller
Jeanette Nolan	...	Cora Melavan
Sean McClory	...	Emmett Kettle
Ernestine Wade	...	Hetty
Peggy Maley	...	Lucy Conover
Isobel Elsom	...	Mrs. Charlotte Ogden
Patricia Tiernan	...	Stella Leatham (as Patricia Livingston)
Kim Charney	...	Bax Leatham
Ray Teal	...	Salt Pork
Nestor Paiva	...	Tortilla
James Griffith	...	Kipper

Storyline

Lt. Frank Hewitt deserts the Union Army to warn former Texas neighbors of impending Indian attacks triggered by Army massacre. He overcomes initial distrust and convinces the homesteaders (all women whose men are away fighting in the Confederate Army) to take refuge in an abandoned mission. He trains them to fight and shoot in anticipation of the attack. The only other man at the mission runs away o save his scalp and ends up leading the Indians back to the mission. Surrounded and outnumbered, the defenders prepare for the final assault..

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Plot Keywords:

texas | texas mexico border | military arrest | insubordination | army deserter | 

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Taglines:

GOOD WOMEN...BAD WOMEN...BRAWLING WOMEN...BRAVE WOMEN! They were all soldiers in skirts!

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Genres:

Action | Romance | War | Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

April 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

Das Fort der mutigen Frauen

Filming Locations:

Amado, Arizona, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Brown - Murphy Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Though the film takes place during the Civil War, Audie Murphy wears a postwar cavalry uniform.

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Connections

Edited into Land Raiders (1970)

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Soundtracks

Lardy Dah
(uncredited)
Written by Fred Karger and George Marshall

User Reviews

Breaks movie cliché taboos

In this movie you will see many clichés attacked successfully: women & children being shot; women leading themselves without panicking or falling over tree roots as a plot device; in-cred-ible. There are a great many movies, books, plays and so on with a single "mutant" woman who is somehow, amazingly, able to do "man" things as good as a man. Her uniqueness is usually used in the plot as a comic device to lure men into a false sense of security, except Alien, I guess.

This movie breaks this unspoken code: highly successfully and entertainingly.In fact it states quite blankly that all women are as good as any man; including in the ability to fight to the death and the last bullet.

I had to keep checking that this was made in 1957! The same year as Funny Face.

You have to put aside the 1950s production values, over-long horse-riding long-shots, and just forget the male supporting cast (except the wonderful Audie Murphy) : they are rather clichéd; concentrate on enjoying the entire female ensemble performance: they really do produce an incredible performance; slightly reminiscent to me of The Big Red One.

I cannot think of another movie which has this premise of a group of women fighting for their own sakes; and not needing a man to do it for them.