When Col. Chivington launches the Sand Creek Massacre, Lt. Frank Hewitt (Audie Murphy) deserts, convinced the massacre will start an Indian war that will threaten his home-state of Texas.
And with their men off fighting for the South in the Civil War, the children and women back in Texas are virtually defenseless.
Since he’s wearing Union blue, the Texas ladies are reluctant to listen to anything Hewitt has to say.
One dead body seems to change their thinking. Hewitt convinces them to take refuge in an old mission, then begins the chore of teaching them how to defend themselves.
His command includes a former girlfriend named Stella, a spunky brunette named Anne, a religious woman named Cora, an older southern belle named Charlotte, an unmarried pregnant woman named Mary, and a tough-as-nails older woman named Hannah, who has outlived three husbands and earns the rank of “sergeant.”
Hewitt’s return makes Stella realize she doesn’t really love the Rebel soldier she married after Hewitt marched off to join the Union Army. Anne soon develops strong feelings for her commanding officer as well.
Of course, none of that might matter thanks to the band of Comanches that are on the warpath.
The fact that three white men point the direction to the mission and the women in hopes of saving their own skin doesn’t help.
Audie Murphy as Lt. Frank Hewitt, trying to convince a former girlfriend to take refuge in the mission in The Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957)
Patricia Livingston as Stella Leatham, explaining how she’s now married in The Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957)
Review:
Sit back, enjoy, don’t expect too much and don’t think too much. Follow that advice, and you’ll find this more entertaining than most of the 1950s Westerns where the focus is largely on female cast members.
Sure, the climax comes off as a bit silly. So does the ending. But Hope Emerson is always fun as the woman who’s tough as any man. And Kathryn Grant makes for a fetching leading lady.
Speaking of which, she would marry Bing Crosby the same year this film was released and pretty much retire from acting. She also had key roles in two other Westerns, “Reprisal!” and “Gunman’s Walk,” playing an Indian maiden in both.
This also marked the only film Audie Murphy ever helped produce. He and Joe Harry Brown purchased three scripts, intending to turn them into films. But, according to TCM, the two men had a falling out after making the first film and the partnership ended.
Kathryn Grant as Anne Martin with Audie Murphy as Lt. Frank Hewitt in The Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957)
Hope Emerson as Hannah Lacey and Peggy Maley as Lucy Conover, ready for an attack in The Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957)
Directed by:
George Marshall
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
Peggy Maley … Lucy Conover
Patricia Livingston … Stella Leatham
Kim Charney … Bax Leatham
Ernestine Wade … Hetty
Isobel Elsom … Mrs. Charlotte Ogden
Ray Teal … Salt Pork
Nester Paiva … Tortilla
James Griffith … Kipper
Mary Ann Hayes … Heckles
Ainslie Pryor … Col. Chivington
Charles Horvath … Yellow Horse
Runtime: 82 min.
Jeff Donnell as Mary Wheller, Isobel Elsom as Mrs. Ogden and Ernestine Wade as Hetty arrive at the mission in The Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957)
Jeanette Nolan as Cora Melavan, opposed to the use of violence in The Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957)
Memorable lines:
Lt. Hewitt: “You’d better listen to me, Miss Hannah.”
Hannah Lacey: “Listen? Mister, I’ve already listened to three husbands in my time and maybe I’ll listen to three more before I’m done. Now you listen. Our men folk are off fighting your kind and we don’t want what you call your help and I call your lies. You better get going before you need some patches on those blue britches.”
Cora: “Mr. Hewitt, only the good book tells me what is right to do. I don’t believe in shooting and killing.”
Lt. Hewitt: “Miss Cora, the Comanches won’t be reading the good book through their rifle sights.”
Lt. Hewitt, surveying his “men,” who are supposed to be prone, ready to fire on the enemy. One’s bottom is raised quite high in the air. “Heckles, get down. You’re just asking for a bullet in the back of your lap, and it’s a hard place to tie a bandage.”
Ainslie Pryor as Col. Chivington, the commander who’s attack on a peaceful village starts the Indian trouble in The Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957)
Sean McClory as Emmett Kettle, the cowardly drunk found hiding in the mission in The Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957)
Lt. Hewitt, tasting the dinner Anne Martin has made: “Martin, there’s an old saying that an Army travels on its stomach. I’m glad we’re not going anywhere. Put some more salt in it.”
Ann Martin, after the women fight off a first attack: “What happens now?”
Lt. Hewitt: “We wait until the medicine man says a few prayers and decides when to attack again.”
Ann: “How will we know?”
Lt. Hewitt: “It won’t be any secret.”
Hannah, to Lt. Hewitt: “Lieutenant, I got an apology. You’re a better man than I am.”
Audie Murphy as Lt. Hewitt explaining the state of affairs in The Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957)
Peggy Maley as Lucy Conover suggests a more comfortable role in The Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957)
Kathyrn Grant as Anne Martin, having Lt. Frank Hewitt (Audie Murphy) check out her cooking skills in The Guns for Fort Petticoat (1957)
Hope Emerson as Hannay Lacey, Audie Murphy as Lt. Hewitt and Kathryn Grant as Anne Martin during target practice in The Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957)
Madge Meredith as Hazel McCasslin, Audie Murphy as Lt. Hewitt and Patricia Livingston as Stella Leatham in The Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957)
Audie Murphy as Lt. Frank Hewitt, defending his decision to warn the women of Texas in The Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957)
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