Das Teufelsweib von Texas

What's not to love about this film? If you can reserve judgment until the end, you'll discover the humorous and heartwarming tale of a woman who is not afraid to stand her ground! Doris Day as Josie, opposite Peter Graves' Jason, is a tremendous force to be reckoned with. In true Doris-style she takes on "the men" of Wyoming, bucking convention (in a great pair of Levi's) and daring them to deny her her basic human rights. OK, so it only takes 2 glasses of brandy to knock Josie off her feet, but she comes right back swinging all the harder! And when the dust clears, she's there, triumphant to the end. Not only does she beat back an oppressive cattle baron, she also manages to fend for herself and her son, run a sheep-raising operation, endear herself to the women of Wyoming, and win the love and admiration of a pretty swell guy, in my opinion. So who says you can't have your cake and eat it too? I give Josie 10 stars **********

... without Dan Blocker and with Doris Day. It's basically about a Wyoming woman (Doris Day) who finds herself minus a husband who shocks the men of the town by deciding to herd sheep instead of cows and by wearing (OH THE HORROR!) mens' pants!!! You know, I haven't seen this since I was twelve and I actually remembered it fondly until I saw it today. George Kennedy plays the cattle ranch owning buffoonish bully who wants Josie's sheep dead. Peter Graves is the love interest who threatens to do endearing things like spank Josie if she doesn't shut up. Andy Devine is still playing the same character he was thirty years before. William Talman, after so many years of losing to Perry Mason, plays a district attorney who is trying to get Wyoming statehood. In the end, the lesson seems to be "who needs the vote anyways ladies, and wear a dress if you want a man!" Oh, the sexism. I guess I just didn't notice this in 1970. And what's worse, this is what passed for feminism in 1970.

This is the problem with so many 60s films. They have one foot in the 50s, one foot in the 70s, and nothing works. This thing might just reach a 5/10 mainly because of its star power, even if those stars are being badly used.

Josie tackles the west in the time before women had a say. It's a good and fun movie.

I like Doris Day and try to get all her films in german. You cannot imagine how happy I was, when I received "The Ballad of Josie" ( Das Teufelsweib aus Texas )( german title). It's a rare film, but I like it because of Doris. Well, people who enjoyed "Pillow Talk" won't like to watch this one, I guess. In this film are some funny moments, for example when Doris wears jeans and surprise the men or when she is falling on the bed. But you can't compare it to her better films. I can only say, Doris is in it, some other good actors and the plot isn't bad at all.

The main reason for seeing 'The Ballad of Josie' in the first place for me was Doris Day, having been of late on a completest quest seeing all the films of hers not yet seen.

Despite being one of her lowest rated films here (along with 'Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?' and 'Caprice'), being one of her less well critically received films and being disliked by Day herself, 'The Ballad of Josie' isn't that bad. At least from respectful personal opinion, though it does have a good deal wrong with it and it was made during a rather rocky period of Day's film career. Of course it is among the weaker end of her overall films but it is better than 'Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?', 'Lucky Me', 'Starlift', 'The West Point Story' (aka 'Fine and Dandy') and 'Tunnel of Love', all but one of which rated higher.

As is the case with all her films, even her lesser ones, Day is the reason to see the film in the first place and also the best thing about it. She does a very good job, having a balance of charm and feistiness. 'The Ballad of Josie' is a good-looking film too, not exactly evocative but full of rustic attractive colours and handsomely designed production values shot beautifully.

Regarding the music, it is pretty excellent. It is cleverly orchestrated and rousing. The title song is a lovely and memorable one, though, despite Don Costa singing it well, there was a missed opportunity regarding Day not singing it. Was mixed on the supporting cast but felt that Elizabeth Fraser beguiled the screen whenever she appeared, Andy Devine clearly has fun and brought some much needed authenticity and John Fiedler is amusing.

However, not all the supporting cast come off well, suffering from characters that are not particularly interesting or used well. Peter Graves has a bland uninteresting role and plays it just as much, while George Kennedy's character is underwritten and underused (although it is a kind of role that Kennedy is perfect for and he does his best with what he's given). Having Andrew V. McLaglen on board as director promised a lot, being a veteran of the western genre. The simplicity of the direction is to be admired, but too much of the time it was a case of getting the job done but it comes over as workmanlike.

Sadly the story is often very dull, narratively it is as thin as a thin piece of tissue and in the more less than eventful parts the pace is sluggish. The script is tonally somewhat muddled, with some frequent and too often tiresome attempts at humour that never seems to fit and the more western-oriented parts lack grit. Despite looking good, 'The Ballad of Josie' never looks evocative with a lot of it looking too clean, too nice and too newly fresh.

Overall, a long way from a disaster but Day did much better in her career and deserved better as well. 5/10 Bethany Cox