The Ballad of Josie

Doris Day, in my opinion has given only two "bad performances." One was in "Do Not Disturb" and the other in "That Touch of Mink." And, it wasn't so much Doris' fault...it was the scripts and unwise directors who tried to keep her pure as the driven sunshine.

"Ballad of Josie" had spunk. It was about a woman who decided to take control of her own life after having been a battered wife. She needed to take care of her little boy and she felt that she didn't NEED A MAN to do anything FOR her. We should be applauding, not hissing this independent woman.

Day didn't want to make this film (her husband had signed for her to do it), but she felt, "a deal's a deal." She put 110% into Josie Minick and she gave a VERY professional performance. No surprise to me, because Day always gave her all, even with drivel like "Disturb" and "Mink." As an actress, she fulfilled her obligation and then some in this part. Could Shirley MacLaine or Debbie Reynolds have given a more convincing performance? I think not. Doris' approach to any scene is so natural, people forget that she's acting. Therefore, audiences and critics ignore what an incredible job she's done, despite poor scripts.

This is not among Doris Day's great films, but she was wonderful in all of her scenes. The script? It wasn't the greatest, but it wasn't the worse. I felt that her supporting cast was well-represented by some of the best character actors in the business. She got marvelous support from Andy Devine, William Talman, Peter Graves, George Kennedy, John Fiedler, Audrey Christie, David Hartman, Elizabeth Fraiser, Paul Fix, etc. And, didn't she look incredible in those jeans?!!!!!!!!

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

I can now say I have seen EVERY Doris Day movie she ever made. I was in no rush to see THE BALLAD OF JOSIE because of the generally bad reviews. (And the snide Women's Lib jabs here are very unfair and wrong-headed!) So on a VERY rainy evening when it appeared on cable, I thought I'd give it a go.

It started off slow with a seemingly endless eulogy of Doris's no-good husband by Andy Devine, but it took off after that.

Certainly not one of her better films, but absolutely not her worst (CAPRICE and STARLIFT are tied for that "honor"). but she is really very good -- as usual. I rooted for her/Josie every step of the way.

I recommend it -- especially since the tide has changed in the past 50+ years and viewers will see some fresh topicality in it in 2019.

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

The Ballad of Josie for Doris Day marked the beginning of the end of her film career. Her agent/husband/svengali Martin Melcher forced her into a whole lot of mediocre films because he knew and she would find out that their wealth was something done with mirrors. She had to keep working.

Not that it's a bad film, just not a terribly good one. It's populated with a whole good cast of veteran players and her leading man in this is Peter Graves. Graves is someone who should have had a good career as a screen lead in his youth. Unfortunately he got to do a lot of bad science fiction movies(and some real classic good ones) which didn't help. He opted for the small screen instead.

William Talman makes his farewell appearance here. He's a big shot politician who sees his dream of statehood in Wyoming going down the tubes because of the controversy of Doris Day trying to raise sheep in what has been traditionally cattle country.

Doris's husband Robert Lowery is killed in the first few minutes of the film. She has to raise her son alone now and lots of professions and trades were closed to her as they were to women back in that day. She decides to become a shepherd as she's told it doesn't have the overhead expense of cattle on the 460 acres she's inherited.

That starts a whole big controversy with a shooting range war about to break out.

Granted that women were kept barefoot and pregnant in those days, but it's hard to believe that Doris might not have heard SOME discussion about the cattle and sheep problem and why there was this unofficial line of demarcation in Arapahoe County, Wyoming.

Fans of Doris will want to see her in anything though.