The Guns Of Fort Petticoat (1957)

During the Civil War, a Union officer (Audie Murphy) deserts his unit after his commander (Ainslie Pryor) leads a massacre on a tribe of peaceful Indians. Knowing that the Indians will retaliate and that many women are keeping the home fires burning while their men are away at war, he returns to his home state of Texas to gather the women and bring them to a deserted mission where they will be safer. This minor western directed by the veteran George Marshall (DESTRY RIDES AGAIN) is one of the better "B" westerns of the 1950s. The unique spin of having a battalion of female "soldiers" defending themselves against a continual Indian attack, not to mention bandits stupid enough to underestimate the ladies, I found this grandly entertaining. In films of this kind, we're used to seeing cavalry soldiers killed by Indians but when it's a woman, there's an uncomfortable reaction. The film touches slightly on other issues without expanding on them as when a woman (Isobel Elsom) has her slave (Ernestine Wade) do her fighting for her and a religious fanatic (Jeanette Nolan) who hides behind her bible rather than join the other women. If you're a westerns fan, don't pass it up if it comes your way. With Kathryn Grant, Hope Emerson (who steals the film), Jeff Donnell, Peggy Maley and Sean McClory (it's a pleasure when he gets his just desserts).