The Legend of Frenchie King

The Legend of Frenchie King (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.

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, naive and gauche" whilst Tom Milne called it "drearily unfunny".