''The Ballad of Josie'' is a 1967

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

American

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by

Andrew V. McLaglen Andrew Victor McLaglen (July 28, 1920 – August 30, 2014) was a British-born American film and television director, known for Westerns and adventure films, often starring John Wayne or James Stewart. According to one obituary "His career ...

and starring

Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, " Sent ...

Peter Graves Peter Graves (born Peter Duesler Aurness; March 18, 1926 – March 14, 2010) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as Jim Phelps in the CBS television series ''Mission: Impossible (1966 TV series), Mission: Impossible'' from 1967 ...

, and George Kennedy. It humorously tackles 1960s themes of

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

in a traditional Western setting. The film featured the last acting role for William Talman. It was filmed on two locations in

Thousand Oaks, California Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, United States. It is in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles, approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown. It is named af ...

: North Ranch and

Wildwood Regional Park Wildwood Regional Park is a suburban regional park in the western Simi Hills and Conejo Valley, in Ventura County, California. It is located in western Thousand Oaks, northern Newbury Park, and southern Moorpark. Wildwood is home to over 27 mi ...

Plot

Josie (Doris Day) is a young woman living in (fictional) Arapahoe County,

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

. She accidentally kills her abusive alcoholic husband when she opens the bedroom door and knocks him backward down the stairs. She is put on trial for his death, but is acquitted. Her father-in-law gets custody of her young son (since he was better able to provide for his care) and takes him to Cheyenne to live while she tries to build a life as a rancher (including wearing Levi's pants, boots, etc.). Josie then incurs the annoyance of her male cattle rancher neighbors by farming sheep north of the Wyoming deadline), and setting up a

women's suffrage movement Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to gran ...

Cast

as Josie Minick *

as Jason Meredith * George Kennedy as Arch Ogden *

Andy Devine Andrew Vabre Devine (October 7, 1905 – February 18, 1977) was an American character actor known for his distinctive raspy, crackly voice and roles in Western films, including his role as Cookie, the sidekick of Roy Rogers in 10 feature fil ...

as Judge Tatum * William Talman as District Attorney Charlie Lord * David Hartman as Sheriff Fonse Pruitt *

Guy Raymond Guy or GUY may refer to: Personal names * Guy (given name) * Guy (surname) * That Guy (...), the New Zealand street performer Leigh Hart Places * Guy, Alberta, a Canadian hamlet * Guy, Arkansas, US, a city * Guy, Indiana, US, an unincorp ...

as Doc *

Audrey Christie Audrey Christie (June 27, 1912 – December 19, 1989) was an American actress, singer and dancer. Early life and family She was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Charles Christie and Florence Ferguson. She attended a fine arts school in Chicag ...

as Annabelle Pettijohn *

Karen Jensen Karen Jensen is an American actress. Biography Born in San Francisco, Jensen is the daughter of Charles and Claire Jensen. She was the youngest person to win the Miss San Carlos title. After she participated in other pageants, she became a model ...

as Deborah Wilkes *

Elisabeth Fraser Elisabeth Fraser (born Elisabeth Fraser Jonker, January 8, 1920 – May 5, 2005) was an American actress, best known for playing brassy blondes. Life and career Born Elisabeth Fraser Jonker on January 8, 1920, in Brooklyn, New York, she was ...

as Widow Renfrew * Linda Meiklejohn as Jenny McCardle *

Pat Carroll Patricia Ann Carroll (May 5, 1927 – July 30, 2022) was an American actress and comedian. She was known for voicing Ursula in ''The Little Mermaid'' and for appearances in CBS's ''The Danny Thomas Show'', ABC's '' Laverne & Shirley'', and NB ...

as Elizabeth * Timothy Scott as Klugg The Sheepherder *

Don Stroud Donald Lee Stroud (born September 1, 1943) is an American actor, musician, and surfer. Stroud has appeared in over 100 films and 200 television shows. Early years Stroud was the son of vaudeville actor Clarence Stroud (of "The Stroud Twins" team ...

as Bratsch The Sheepherder * Paul Fix as Alpheus Minick *

Harry Carey Harry Carey may refer to: *Harry Carey (actor) (1878–1947), American actor * Harry Carey Jr. (1921–2012), American actor * Harry Carey (footballer) (1916–1991), Australian rules footballer See also * Henry Carey (disambiguation) * Harry Car ...

as Mooney, Meredith's Foreman *

John Fiedler John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

as Simpson, general store owner * Robert Lowery as Whit Minick, town drunk *

Teddy Quinn Teddy "Ted" Quinn (born November 12, 1958, in La Porte, Indiana) is an American musician, record producer, radio personality and actor. As Teddy Quinn, he was a child actor who appeared in many commercials, films, and television shows of the 1 ...

as Luther Minick, Josie's son *

Edward Faulkner Fielden Edward Faulkner II (born February 29, 1932 in Lexington, Kentucky) is an American film and television character actor. He is most known for his roles in John Wayne films, including ''Hellfighters'', ''The Green Berets'', '' Rio Lobo'', ...

as Juror/Liveryman

References

External links

* * * 1967 films 1960s Western (genre) comedy films American Western (genre) comedy films 1960s English-language films 1960s feminist films Films scored by Frank De Vol Films directed by Andrew McLaglen Films set in Wyoming Universal Pictures films American feminist films 1967 comedy films 1960s American films {{1960s-western-film-stub