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Thursday, October 14, 2010

The Ballad Of Josie (1967)

After being acquitted for killing her husband, a woman (Doris Day) has her son taken away from her by his paternal grandfather (Paul Fix). Struggling to find a way to support herself so she can get her son back, she decides to raise sheep in cattle country thus sparking a range war. Andrew V. McLaglen is an old hand at directing westerns and Day starred in CALAMITY JANE, a marvelous western musical. Maybe if this had been turned into a musical too it might have worked but as it stands, it's about ten years too late. Day looks tired and its pseudo feminist message is lost amongst the silly shenanigans and tired gags and it could have used a few musical numbers to liven things up. It's probably the weakest film in Day's filmography but her screen presence is strong enough to hold up her end, the rest of the cast isn't so lucky. With Peter Graves, George Kennedy, Audrey Christie, William Talman, Andy Devine, Don Stroud, Robert Lowery and Elisabeth Fraser. For Doris Day completists only.

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