Petroleum-Miezen

I am one of the few who can actually lay claim to seeing "The Legend of Frenchie King" (1971) during its original UK theatrical release. The theater was not exactly packed for this feature which was yet another of the then endlessly proliferating Spanish westerns. These were characterized by a slightly off-kilter production design and heavily-accented dialogue (considering the bad accents I can't imagine that much of it was dubbed) by the English as a second language cast members.

Apparently Bardot had not learned her lesson with "Shalako" back in 1968, and she inflicted another of these things on herself. Basically the film is what you would get if you combined the plot elements of "The Dalton Girls"(1957) with those of "A Fistful of Dollars" (1964) and then tried (unsuccessfully) to give the story a comic quality.

The story is set in 1880's New Mexico, and like "The Dalton Girls" it features an outlaw gang of eyeball scorching girls. In this case there are five of them carrying on the family tradition (they don't have the Daltons as brothers but they have a legendary train robbing father).

The film opens with such a robbery. Disguised as men in black, the girls inflict ultra-violence on anyone who resists them. When she discovers the train robbery loot includes a deed to a local ranch the leader & title character (Bardot) decides they will all go domestic for a while. There is oil on the ranch and the neighboring rancher (Claudia Cardinale) wants to buy them out. She has four brothers. Which sets up a series of confrontations between the two women and a romantic pairing off of the four sisters and the four brothers. This culminates in a nicely staged if somewhat tame catfight. Meanwhile Michael J. Pollard plays his standard C.W. Moss character; this time working as a bumbling sheriff.

Bardot was in her mid-thirties and still looks great, Cardinale was a couple years younger and looks pretty high mileage and a bit chunky in comparison. It does not work to her relative advantage to be playing opposite Bardot. Nor does it help that the four other actresses are drop dead gorgeous.

It is this winsome foursome that makes the film worth viewing. They even manage to insert a little characterization. Patty Shepard plays Little Rain, the one with an Indian mother (note the headband). Teresa Gimpera plays Caroline, the oldest and most sophisticated. Emma Cohen plays near-sighted Virginie. And France Dougnac plays ultra-hot Elisabeth, she makes all the others (including Bardot) look rather plain in comparison. There is a great camera shot where they pan along the four of them standing along a bar which pauses at the end when Dougnac comes into the frame.

The original director was Guy Casaril but he was replaced by a desperate for work Christian- Jaque. The "real" legend of Frenchie King grew out of this change as in was long believed that there were two different films, "Frenchie King" by Christian-Jaque and "Les Petroleuses" by Casaril.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Goofy and entertaining tongue-in-cheek European Western about bands of female outlaws led by two sexpots : B.B and C.C . Funny but mediocre film with tame action , struggles, and shootouts by the veteran Christian Jaque in frank decadence . The film starts with such a train robbery by Frenchie and his gang who actually are Marie Sarrazin (Claudia Cardinale showing cleavage and singing an enjoyable song ) and her four brothers disguised as men in black . Meantime , Louise (gorgeous Brigitte Bardot who also played a better Western : ¨Viva Maria¨ by Louis Malle) and her four sisters ( various Eurotrash girls as Teresa Gimpera , Emma Cohen and Patty Shepard) inherit from their parents a valuable propriety and decide to go the ranch for a while. There is oil on the lands and the neighboring rancher (Claudia Cardinale) wants to take them out. Later on , there takes places a series of disputes and fights between the two leaders in encounter the propriety . Meanwhile , a botcher sheriff (Michael J. Pollard ) meddles on the issues of the outlaws .

This is a muddle and regular Spanish-Italian-French co-production Western in Trinity and Bambino style with an appropriately goofy tone , customary issue in this sub-genre . The film has brief action, fun , brawls , light-weight comedy , cat-fight, shootouts and surprise-filled entertainment . The picture contains funny gun-play along with fist-fight very much in the Trinity's Terence Hill/Bud Spencer territory . The picture displays crazy characters with silly plot and some amusing moments here and there . It does eventually outstay its welcome, and there are a surprising amount of embarrassing fights and laughters . The pictures results to be a crossover between ¨Morris's brothers Dalton¨ , ¨Hill-Spencer¨ movies and ¨Seven brides for seven brothers ¨ , regarding the romantic pairing off of the four sisters and the four brothers . Michael J. Pollard -still recent his successful support role in Bonny and Clyde- steals the show with his gestures , faces and excesses as bungler marshal . It certainly has an enthusiastic cast , as there appears usual Spanish secondary actors as Antonio Casas , Jose Luis Lopez Vazquez , Chris Huerta , ApocalypJose Maria Caffarel , Luis Induni , Maria Vico, Miguel Del Castillo , Manuel Zarzo and several others. A really catching score musical with lively leitmotif by Christian Gaubert . Atmospheric cinematography filmed in Madrid surroundings , Manzanares Del Real and of course Almeria , desert of Tabernas , Spain . Silly screenplay with ridiculous situations written by the usual , also producer Eduardo Manzanos Brochero ( he produced several Western as ¨Apocalypse Joe , Danger Pass , Winchester one among thousand , Arrival Sartana , Djanjo the condemned ¨) . Good ambiance design and acceptable production design by Cubero and Galicia , both of whom created lots of sets in several Western filmed in the 60s and 70s. However , the photography is washed-out and for that reason is necessary an urgent remastering . This is a bewildering story , funny in some moment but falls flat and it will appeal to poor Spaghetti Western fans . It's a below average film , but still better than a lot of the ulterior spaghetti western comedies to come . If you enjoy to laugh at absurd movies , then this one is for you .

Unusual comic Western romp starring two foreign beauties of the 50's and 60's, Bardot and Cardinale. This certainly isn't a work of art but fun all the same. With Michael J. Pollard (from Bonnie and Clyde) as the sheriff, how wrong can you go? Warring families fighting over land (with catfights).

Wonderful music and an easygoing flowing rhythm, this film should become a camp classic. A 6 out of 10. Best performance = Michael J. Pollard. Good luck finding this one. Bardot's best 70's film (which really isn't saying much), but I had a blast when I saw this as a teenager back in the early 70's. Give it a shot!

After the first half of the sixties,Christian-Jaque 's talent began to deteriorate .It was extraordinary he fell so quickly and so low after the brilliant works of the thirties ,forties ,fifties and even early sixties.

Probably made to capitalize on the success of Louis Malle's "Viva Maria" where BB met Jeanne Moreau in 1965, "Le petroleuses" is a slapstick comedy where two gorgeous cowgirls fight for an oilfield. In her memoirs,BB remembers she could not ride a horse,and she was terrified each time she had to get back into the saddle.Her screams (Mama!Mama!) used to make CC laugh until she cried.She did not like the film.I didn't either.

This film begins with five female marauders led by a mysterious bandit known as "Frenchie King" (Brigitte Bardot) robbing a train and then riding off with the loot. The scene then shifts to a family of five ranchers led by a woman named "Miss Maria Sarrazin" (Claudia Cardinale) riding into town to acquire some Christmas packages which were due to arrive on that same train. However, when the train doesn't stop at the town like it's supposed to, Maria and her four brothers ride out to catch it. Although they recover their packages from the train, they also accidentally acquire a secret map detailing where a large deposit of oil is located. As it so happens, however, Frenchie King and her four sisters get the title for that very same land, and so the destinies of both Frenchie King and her gang, along with Maria and her brothers, are strangely intertwined. To further add to the confusion the "town marshal" (played by Michael J. Pollard) is not only deeply in love with Maria but also becomes highly suspicious of "Mademoiselle Louisa" (as one of the many names Frenchie King uses) and sets out to investigate all of the strange things going on in his jurisdiction. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will say that the main attribute of this film is the casting of Brigitte Bardot and Claudia Cardinale, who were both international sex symbols during this time. There were also a few other beautiful women in supporting roles as well. On the flip side, however, as a Western, this film didn't quite have the same quality as many others in the genre, and a major reason could be the fact that it was intended more for European audiences. In any case, while it wasn't a bad movie for the most part, I thought it should have been much better, and for that reason, I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.