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.

padrelaw This film is one of hundreds of westerns churned out in the post-WWi era; in fact, westerns ruled the roost of cinema until the late 60s, most of which were made quickly, inexpensively, and predictably.Some of the big stars, who were able to command slightly larger budgets and better writers, were John Wayne, Randolph Scott, and WWII hero Audie Murphy. In this delightfully entertaining escapade, Murphy opposes the US Army's massacre of an Indian village populated with women and children, and, knowing the actions of the soldiers will lead to retribution, rides to his home state of Texas to warn the settlers (almost all of whom are, or course, women - the men being off fighting the civil war).Take a guess as to whether the women and Murphy survive and whether or not at least one of the women fall in love with him. Yeah, right.Anyway, you will not regret seeing this great example of the B- westerns that your grandparents grew up watching each weekend in double features for 35 cents.

john-mm In this movie you will see many clichés attacked successfully: women & children being shot; women leading themselves without panicking or falling over tree roots as a plot device; in-cred-ible. There are a great many movies, books, plays and so on with a single "mutant" woman who is somehow, amazingly, able to do "man" things as good as a man. Her uniqueness is usually used in the plot as a comic device to lure men into a false sense of security, except Alien, I guess.This movie breaks this unspoken code: highly successfully and entertainingly.In fact it states quite blankly that all women are as good as any man; including in the ability to fight to the death and the last bullet.I had to keep checking that this was made in 1957! The same year as Funny Face.You have to put aside the 1950s production values, over-long horse-riding long-shots, and just forget the male supporting cast (except the wonderful Audie Murphy) : they are rather clichéd; concentrate on enjoying the entire female ensemble performance: they really do produce an incredible performance; slightly reminiscent to me of The Big Red One.I cannot think of another movie which has this premise of a group of women fighting for their own sakes; and not needing a man to do it for them.

rc223 A Unionist deserter (earnestly portrayed by Murphy) has to whip a group of women into shape to fight off an Indian attack. A lively idea leads to a (mostly) lively film. The trouble is we've got Indians, the Civil War, evil officers, religious nutters, Calamity Jane types... generally no stereotype is left unturned. (5