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.
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.