''The Legend of Frenchie King'' (, also known as ''Petroleum Girls'') is a 1971

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

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and

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international co-production A co-production is a joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint vent ...

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

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 Claude Joséphine Rose Cardinale (; born 15 April 1938), known as Claudia Cardinale (), is an Italian actress. Born and raised in La Goulette, a neighbourhood of Tunis, Cardinale won the "Most Beautiful Italian Girl in Tunisia" competition ...

and

Brigitte Bardot Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a French former actress, singer, and model as well as an animal rights activist. Famous for portraying characters with Hedonism, hedonistic life ...

Plot

In Bougival Junction,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

in 1888 the

Francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

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

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 character actor. With his distinctive bulbous nose, dimpled chin and smirk, he gained a cult following, usually portraying quirky, off-beat, ...

as the Marshal *

Patty Shepard Patricia Moran Shepard (October 1, 1945 – January 3, 2013) was an American film actress based in Madrid, Spain. She appeared in more than fifty Spanish, Italy, Italian and France, French films from the 1960s to the 1980s, notably several Cult f ...

as Petite Pluie *

Emma Cohen Emmanuela Beltrán Rahola (21 November 1946 – 11 July 2016), better known as Emma Cohen, was a Spanish actress, director, producer, and writer. She appeared in many Spanish language films. She portrayed , a counterpart to Big Bird, in ''Barr ...

as Virginie *

Teresa Gimpera Teresa Gimpera i Flaquer (21 September 1936 – 23 July 2024) was a Spanish film and television actress and model of the 1960s and 1970s. Biography Teresa Gimpera Flaquer was born in Igualada, province of Barcelona, on 21 September 1936. Her ...

as Caroline * Oscar Davis as Mathieu * Georges Beller as Marc * Patrick Préjan as Luc *

Riccardo Salvino Riccardo Salvino (29 March 1944 – 12 January 1999) was an Italian film and television actor. Life and career Born in Palermo, Salvino made his film debut at 23 years old, with a main role in Franco De Rosis' ''Il magnaccio''. In the 1970s he ...

as Jean * Henri Czarniak as Doc Miller *

Valéry Inkijnoff Valery () is a male given name and occasional surname. It is derived from the Latin name '' Valerius''. The Slavic given name Valeriy or Valeri is prevalent in Russia and derives directly from the Latin. Given name * Valery Afanassiev, Russian ...

as Spitting Bull *

Micheline Presle Micheline Presle (; born Micheline Nicole Julia Émilienne Chassagne; 22 August 1922 – 21 February 2024) was a French actress. She was sometimes billed as Micheline Prelle. Starting her career in 1937, she starred or appeared in over 150 films ...

as Aunt Amelie *

Denise Provence Denise Provence (1921–2011) was a French stage, film and television actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the tradition ...

as Mlle. Letellier * Leroy Hayns as Marquis *

José Luis López Vázquez José Luis López Vázquez de la Torre Medal of Merit in Labour, MMT (11 March 1922 – 2 November 2009) was a Spanish actor, comedian, costume designer, scenic designer, and assistant director whose career spanned nearly seven decades. He was ...

as a barber *

Manuel Zarzo Manuel López Zarza (; 26 April 1932 – 16 or 17 June 2025), better known as Manuel Zarzo (), was a Spanish film actor. He appeared in more than 200 television and film works over his 7-decade long career. Zarzo made his film debut in ''Day b ...

as a roulette player *

Jacques Jouanneau Jacques Jouanneau (3 October 1926 – 19 July 2011) was a French actor. He was born in Angers, France. Filmography *1953: '' Capitaine Pantoufle'' - Le barman du Goéland (uncredited) *1954: '' Les Intrigantes'' - Le Reporter (uncredited) *1 ...

as M. Letellier * Raoul Delfossé as Le Cornac * France Dougnac as Elisabeth

Production

The film was called ''Love on Horseback''. Filming started in June 1971. Finance was partly provided by Hemdale.

Release

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

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

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 Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' Gene Moskowitz dismissed the film as "predictable, naïve and gauche" whilst

Tom Milne Tom Milne (2 April 1926 – 14 December 2005) was a British film critic. See also After war service, he studied English and French at Aberdeen University and later at the Sorbonne. Interested in the theatre too, he wrote for the magazine ...

called it "drearily unfunny".Crawley, ''Bébé'', p. 234

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Legend of Frenchie King, The 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 Films set in Corsica 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 French-language comedy films