- Source: The Legend of Frenchie King
The Legend of Frenchie King (French: Les Pétroleuses) or Petroleum Girls is a 1971 French, Spanish, Italian and British international co-production western comedy film directed by Christian-Jaque and starring Claudia Cardinale and Brigitte Bardot.
Plot
In Bougival Junction, Texas in 1888 the Francophone 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
Brigitte Bardot as Louise a.k.a. Frenchie King
Michael J. Pollard as the Marshal
Patty Shepard as Petite Pluie
Emma Cohen as Virginie
Teresa Gimpera 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 as a barber
Manuel Zarzo as a roulette player
Jacques Jouanneau 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.
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, naïve and gauche" whilst Tom Milne called it "drearily unfunny".
See also
List of Spaghetti Western films
1971 in film
References
External links
Les Pétroleuses at IMDb