Les pétroleuses

Was blessed to see this gem of a movie in the Local Theater when it was first released. It was titled as 'The Legend of Frenchie King' back then. It is a 'campy, Spaghetti type of Western' that was original in its time for having females in the hero roles. IMHO, this film set the stage for the likes of TV series like Wonder Woman, Charlies Angels, etc. Etc. Be sure that you see the original, uncut version of this film...that is, if you can find it...I had heard a rumor that B. B. had at one time bought up most of the copies and had them destroyed, because she was not happy with the finished release. As was the norm in the 1970s, there was also an LP record release of the film-score, too.

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!

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.

Claudia Cardinale is in my dreamy Top Ten. Cardinale does not disappoint in "The Legend of Frenchie King". Brigitte Bardot is also no slouch. Bardot's all girl gang fills out the rest of the card. Throw in Michael J. Pollard as the marshall and you have all the makings of an enjoyable spaghetti western. "The Legend of Frenchie King" is enjoyable all the way as it builds to the greatest catfight in spaghetti western history. But I have to admit, the dubbing in this movie is ridiculous. They didn't even try to match it up to the lips. I'm guessing they figured nobody would by looking at their lips anyway so why bother. They weren't wrong.

LES PETROLEUSES's marquee value was probably enough to have every European theater sold-out when it came out. Let's face it, no one would flock to see this for its plot and characterization and it probably wouldn't have been green-lit in the first place were it not for ravishing beauties Brigitte Bardot and Claudia Cardinale. With a story that could've been plucked straight from the pages of the famous European western comic Lucky Luke, Les Petroleuses is an irreverent euro-western cartoonish spectacle from start to finish, a low-brow comedy populated by stock characters and silly slapstick but still fairly entertaining as far as these films go. What really makes it worthwhile however is the screen presence of Bardot and Cardinale, none of which have to stretch their acting muscles to earn their paycheck, except look as gorgeous as possible. Seeing Bardot's bare buttocks and Cardinale doing a song number dressed in a skimpy cabaret outfit probably helped quite a lot.

Interesting to note is that Les Petroleuses plays like a male sex fantasy of female supremacy. Bardot plays notorious train robber Frenchie King, leader of four black-clad European babes, while Cardinale is in charge of a ranch and her four idiot brothers. All the men in the movie are stupid and incompetent buffoons, chief among them the sheriff who is a bumbling fool always running after his horse and Cardinale's perennially horny brothers. The women are sassy, bossing the men around and outsmarting them at every turn. Buxom beauty Cardinale has an old Indian housekeeper while Blond vixen Bardot has a black manservant (who calls the Indian his "red brother"). Both Cardinale and Bardot have the goofy sheriff wrapped around their finger. At one point Bardot kidnaps Cardinale's brothers, has them tied and stripped naked before her and rains buckshot on their bare asses! In the end, the sheriff drops his star and gunbelt on the floor and sighs in admission of defeat that "the west ain't no place for a man".

You can guess the conclusion from sheer arithmetics alone and the movie is pretty crude from a technical standpoint, but eurowestern fans will have a ball seeing two of the most beautiful women ever to grace the silver screen duking it out for crude petrol.