Wild Women (1970)

A scout (Hugh O'Brian) is hired by the Army to accompany a group of Army engineers through hostile Apache territory to transport arms in anticipation of Mexico's declaring war over the Texas territory. To disguise the situation, a group of female prisoners are promised pardons if they pretend to be the wives of the Army engineers disguised as settlers heading West. Based on the novel by Vincent Fotre and directed by Don Taylor (THE FINAL COUNTDOWN). This amiable female centric western is quite engaging if predictable in its outcome. Unusual for a western, it's the women who are important. They're the interesting characters with backstories while the males are rather unremarkable. And luckily for us, the five actresses are wonderful. There's Anne Francis as an old flame of O'Brian, Marie Windsor as bank robber, Marilyn Maxwell as a  madam, Sherry Jackson as a Southern belle and Cynthia Hull as an Apache woman. The film is infused with humor to offset the usual western cliches and we're never meant to take it too seriously anyway. With Richard Kelton and Robert F. Simon.