''The Legend of Frenchie King'' (french: Les Pétroleuses) or Petroleum Girls is a 1971

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, Spanish, Italian and British international co-production western comedy film directed by

Christian-Jaque Christian-Jaque (byname of Christian Maudet; 4 September 1904 – 8 July 1994) was a French filmmaker. From 1954 to 1959, he was married to actress Martine Carol, who starred in several of his films, including ''Lucrèce Borgia'' (1953), ''M ...

and starring Claudia Cardinale and

Brigitte Bardot Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a former French actress, singer and model. Famous for portraying sexually emancipated characters with hedonistic lifestyles, she was one of the ...

Plot

In Bougival Junction,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

in 1888 the

Francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

town is led by Marie Sarrazin. A new family arrives, calling themselves the Millers, but in fact they are the daughters of the hanged outlaw Frenchie King. His eldest daughter Louise seeks to keep her father's name alive by donning men's clothing and continuing his criminal ways. Louise and Marie fight, but when they are jailed, they team up to take revenge on the town's men.

Cast

* Claudia Cardinale as Marie Sarrazin *

as Louise a.k.a. Frenchie King *

Michael J. Pollard Michael J. Pollard (born Michael John Pollack Jr.; May 30, 1939 – November 20, 2019) was an American actor. He is best known for his role as C.W. Moss in the film ''Bonnie and Clyde'' (1967), which earned him critical acclaim along with nomi ...

as the Marshal * Patty Shepard as Petite Pluie * Emma Cohen as Virginie *

Teresa Gimpera Teresa Gimpera Flaquer (born 21 September 1936) is a Spanish film and television actress and former model of the 60s and 70s. Biography Teresa Gimpera Flaquer was born in Igualada, province of Barcelona, on 21 September 1936. Her parents were ...

as Caroline * Oscar Davis as Mathieu * Georges Beller as Marc * Patrick Préjan as Luc * Rocardo Salvino as Jean * Henri Czarniak as Doc Miller * Valéry Inkijnoff as Spitting Bull * Micheline Presle as Aunt Amelie * Denise Provence as Mlle. Letellier * Leroy Hayns as Marquis *

José Luis López Vázquez José Luis López Vázquez de la Torre MML (11 March 1922, in Madrid – 2 November 2009, in Madrid) was a Spanish actor. Career José Luis López Vázquez was born in Madrid, Spain, on 11 March 1922. He originally worked in theater as a costume ...

as a barber *

Manuel Zarzo Manuel López Zarza (born 26 April 1932) better known as Manuel Zarzo is a Spanish film actor. He has appeared in more than 150 films since 1951. Selected filmography * '' Day by Day'' (1951) * '' Love in a Hot Climate'' (1954) * ''Cursed Mo ...

as a roulette player * Jacques Jouanneau as M. Letellier * Raoul Delfossé as Le Cornac * France Dougnac as Elisabeth

Release

The premiere of ''Les Pétroleuses'' was on 17 December 1971 at the Balzac cinema in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

Reception

Critical response

The film received generally negative reviews. Bardot's performance in particular was criticised by Jean Loup Passek, who noted how uncomfortable she seemed in the film's outdoors action setting. Writing in '' Variety'' Gene Moskowitz dismissed the film as "predictable, naive and gauche" whilst Tom Milne called it "drearily unfunny".Crawley, ''Bébé'', p. 234

References

External links

* 1971 films 1970s Western (genre) comedy films 1970s historical comedy films Films directed by Christian-Jaque French historical comedy films 1970s French-language films French Western (genre) comedy films British Western (genre) comedy films Italian Western (genre) comedy films Spanish Western (genre) comedy films Films set in the 1880s Films scored by Francis Lai Corsica in fiction Italian historical comedy films Spanish historical comedy films British historical comedy films Girls with guns films 1970s British films 1970s French films 1970s Italian films {{1970s-France-film-stub