''The Legend of Frenchie King'' (french: Les Pétroleuses) or Petroleum Girls is a 1971

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

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 Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

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and

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

international co-production A co-production is a joint venture between two or more different production companies for the purpose of film production, television production, video game development, and so on. In the case of an international co-production, production companies ...

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), '' ...

and starring

Claudia Cardinale Claude Joséphine Rose "Claudia" Cardinale (; born 15 April 1938) is an Italian actress. She has starred in some of the most iconic European films of the 1960s and 1970s, acting in Italian, French, and English. Born and raised in La Goulette, a ...

and

Brigitte Bardot Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a former French actress, singer and model. Famous for portraying sexually emancipated characters with hedonistic lifestyles, she was one of the ...

Plot

In Bougival Junction,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

in 1888 the

Francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

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 actor. He is best known for his role as C.W. Moss in the film ''Bonnie and Clyde'' (1967), which earned him critical acclaim along with nomi ...

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, Italian and French films from the 1960s to the 1980s, notably several cult horror films. ...

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 ''Gallina Caponata'' in Barrio Sésamo, a ...

as Virginie *

Teresa Gimpera Teresa Gimpera Flaquer (born 21 September 1936) is a Spanish film and television actress and former model of the 60s and 70s. Biography Teresa Gimpera Flaquer was born in Igualada, province of Barcelona, on 21 September 1936. Her parents were ...

as Caroline * Oscar Davis as Mathieu *

Georges Beller Georges may refer to: Places *Georges River, New South Wales, Australia *Georges Quay (Dublin) *Georges Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania Other uses *Georges (name) *Georges (novel), ''Georges'' (novel), a novel by Alexandre Dumas *Georges ( ...

as Marc *

Patrick Préjan Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name *Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint *Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick or ...

as Luc * Rocardo Salvino as Jean *

Henri Czarniak Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry. People with this given name ; French noblemen :'' See the 'List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.'' * Henri I de Montm ...

as Doc Miller *

Valéry Inkijnoff The French name Valery () is a male given name or surname of Germanic origin ''Walaric'' (see Walric of Leuconay), that has often been confused in modern times with the Latin name ''Valerius''—that explains the variant spelling Valéry (). The S ...

as Spitting Bull *

Micheline Presle Micheline Presle (; born Micheline Nicole Julia Émilienne Chassagne; 22 August 1922) is a French actress. She was sometimes billed as Micheline Prelle. Starting in 1939, she starred in over 50 French and English language films that were made in H ...

as Aunt Amelie *

Denise Provence Denise Provence (1921–2011) was a French stage, film and television actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in mode ...

as Mlle. Letellier *

Leroy Hayns Leroy or Le Roy may refer to: People * Leroy (name), a given name and surname * Leroy (musician), American musician * Leroy (sailor), French sailor Places United States * Leroy, Alabama * Le Roy, Illinois * Le Roy, Iowa * Le Roy, Kansas * Le R ...

as Marquis *

José Luis López Vázquez José Luis López Vázquez de la Torre MML (11 March 1922, in Madrid – 2 November 2009, in Madrid) was a Spanish actor. Career José Luis López Vázquez was born in Madrid, Spain, on 11 March 1922. He originally worked in theater as a costume ...

as a barber *

Manuel Zarzo Manuel López Zarza (born 26 April 1932) better known as Manuel Zarzo is a Spanish film actor. He has appeared in more than 150 films since 1951. Selected filmography * '' Day by Day'' (1951) * '' Love in a Hot Climate'' (1954) * ''Cursed Mo ...

as a roulette player *

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

as M. Letellier *

Raoul Delfossé __NOTOC__ Raoul is a French variant of the male given name Ralph (name), Ralph or Rudolph (name), Rudolph, and a cognate of Raul. Raoul may also refer to: Given name * Raoul Berger, American legal scholar * Raoul Bova, Italian actor * Radulphus ...

as Le Cornac * France Dougnac as Elisabeth

Release

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

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

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, naive 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

* 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 Corsica in fiction 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 {{1970s-France-film-stub