classicsoncall The picture opens with a take on the historical Sand Creek Massacre which occurred on November 29th, 1864. It was accurately depicted as being led by Colonel John Chivington, though in the actual battle Chivington's forces totaled about two hundred fifty men, a lot larger than this film represented. The number of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians slaughtered varies with the source, but most of the estimates come in around a hundred thirty five, with most of them being women and children. The colonel who led the attack was particularly hateful of Indians and was quoted back in the day saying - "I have come to kill Indians, and believe it is right and honorable to use any means under God's heaven to kill Indians." Quite appropriately, the event also goes by the name of Chivington's Massacre.With that, Lieutenant Frank Hewitt (Audie Murphy), disgusted with the actions of his commanding officer, deserts the Cavalry and heads south into Texas, attempting to warn whoever he can that a Cheyenne uprising is imminent. Finding the border town of Jonesville occupied primarily by women whose husbands are off fighting for the Confederacy, Hewitt is confronted with derision and disdain for wearing a Union uniform. It takes the murder of a local woman by a Cheyenne to convince the rest of the women to abandon town and bond together for protection at a run down mission under Hewitt's direction and training.My favorite character here has to be 'good as three men' Hannah Lacey, admirably portrayed by the feisty Hope Emerson. Hannah gets right into the spirit of things at the mission fort, calling all her female charges 'men', as in 'Let's go men' when it's time to buckle down and do the hard work required to get ready for an Indian attack. Hewitt placed her second in command, and who was going to argue? In this story though, you didn't get a sense of how big actress Emerson actually was, six foot two and two hundred thirty pounds in her heyday. If you get the chance, you really have to catch her in the 1950 prison movie "Caged", it'll give you nightmares for a week! There's a side story regarding a trio of outlaws that interferes with Hewitt's command of 'Fort Petticoat' but they're dispatched rather quickly once the Cheyenne figure out their game. When it comes time to defend the mission, the women are up to the task, even while taking on casualties. The picture is quite realistic in that regard, showing women and even a young kid getting shot before Hewitt's calculated move to ambush a Cheyenne medicine man and string him up to stop the warring tribe, thereby suggesting it was not a good day to die.

Reedmalloy An earlier reviewer writes that the title of this Audie Murphy oater suggests a comedy--"F Troop" meets "Petticoat Junction." He can be forgiven this wit since both of those sitcom inanities post-date this western by many years.But in a way he was not far wrong. While not a comedy it has comedic elements, as all good action films should, and it's a merger of two stories that could be described as "The Alamo" meets "Westward the Women".The latter is an (apparently) little known film by William Wellman made six years earlier. Robert Taylor has the Audie Murphy role as wagon-master Buck Wyatt leading a group of mail-order brides from Chicago to California. He's also a hard-nosed martinet whose crew deserts him when they can't obey his orders to stay away from the women, thus setting up a similar scenario. Although not the only male guiding the wagon train west (there are four), the setup is pretty much the same as "Fort Petticoat".The common bond here is Hope Emerson ("Sergeant" Hannah Lacey), a true pro. She was also Patience Hawley in Wellman's film, playing the same character in both, and it's a good one. I believe MGM hoped to establish Emerson as another Marjorie Main but comparisons are invidious and Emerson, a wonderful actress (see "Caged"), inevitably came off second to Main. Sadly, she died a few years after this movie was made.Many of the same elements populate both movies, particularly in how the man trains the women, who grow beyond his tutelage (and leadership) after overcoming difficult odds, but "Fort Petticoat" manages to come up with a few new turns of its own.As for Audie, he does well--reprising Buck Wyatt in spirit but remaining true to his own personality. He plays as well off Emerson as Taylor did in "Westward" and both make this an entertaining movie.This movie can be frequently found on Encore Westerns but if you can catch "Westward the Women" on TCM, I urge you to do so. It's a bit grittier but the two are a credit to each other thanks to Hope Emerson.

bkoganbing Audie Murphy, a Texan here as well as in real life, stayed with the Union Army during the Civil War. He's drawn duty out west fighting Indians instead of Confederates. The real life Sand Creek Massacre of the Cheyenne has occurred and there is a total uprising on the frontier. Murphy goes AWOL from the army and back to his part of Texas to help the remaining people there as most of the young men are in the Confederate army. After a lot of convincing he's got himself a female troop that proves themselves quite worthy standing up to Indians and renegade white men.The Guns at Fort Petticoat is one of Audie Murphy's best B westerns in his career. Murphy turned out to be a real acting talent, if he hadn't been, his career wouldn't have lasted as long as it did.He gets some good support here from that distaff group of players assembled at the old mission where they have to stand off the Cheyenne. Hope Emerson is the second in command and as always Hope is a formidable presence on the screen.While this was playing in theaters Kathryn Grant became the second Mrs. Bing Crosby. I happened to meet her a few years ago when she was on a book tour promoting a book about her marriage with Bing. She mentioned that she liked The Guns at Fort Petticoat and wished she owned a copy of the film. If I had known I would have bought my VHS copy and given it to her. She should be proud of her work in this film.There are four nasty men in this film as well. Sean McClory plays a no good rat of a human being who's impregnated Jeff Donnell and runs out on her. Then there are three of the nastiest outlaws you'd ever want to meet in James Griffith, Nestor Paiva, and Ray Teal. Audie and the women have to deal with them also.There is one terribly touching scene that moistens my eyes every time I watch The Guns at Fort Petticoat. One adolescent girl's mom is killed during one of the attacks. Actresses Isobel Elsom and Peggy Miley play a southern dowager and a saloon entertainer respectively. Both of them comfort the young girl at the hour of her tragedy and in so doing prove they have a lot more character than originally thought. A really class piece of acting, brought off by Director George Marshall.Kathryn Crosby, if you happen to read this review, contact me and I'll be glad to give you my copy of The Guns at Fort Petticoat.

akatz70 The man who left the mission did not tell the Indians about the women at the mission. That was done by three "bad guys" he told. As was usual for movies of the 50's, they came to bad end. The theme is a morality play as were most westerns. It was also of interest to see Kathryn Grayson before she married Bing Crosby. There is little to give one a reason to watch except for nostalgia. It must have been released as a "B" movie even though Audie Murphy was a star of sorts. For an hour of time requiring suspension of belief and no worries about thinking, this is just the one to watch. I would rate it as a five at most! You can probably catch it on cable on the Western Channel.