The Ballad of Josie

The Ballad of Josie is a 1967 Technicolor American comedy Western film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and starring Doris Day, Peter Graves, and George Kennedy. It humorously tackles 1960s themes of feminism 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: North Ranch and Wildwood Regional Park. Plot Josie (Doris Day) is a young woman living in (fictional) Arapahoe County, Wyoming. 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. Cast Doris Day as Josie Minick Peter Graves as Jason Meredith George Kennedy as Arch Ogden Andy Devine as Judge Tatum William Talman as District Attorney Charlie Lord David Hartman as Sheriff Fonse Pruitt Guy Raymond as Doc Audrey Christie as Annabelle Pettijohn Karen Jensen as Deborah Wilkes Elisabeth Fraser as Widow Renfrew Linda Meiklejohn as Jenny McCardle Shirley O'Hara as Elizabeth Timothy Scott as Klugg The Sheepherder Don Stroud as Bratsch The Sheepherder Paul Fix as Alpheus Minick Harry Carey as Mooney, Meredith's Foreman John Fiedler as Simpson, general store owner Robert Lowery as Whit Minick, town drunk Teddy Quinn as Luther Minick, Josie's son Edward Faulkner as Juror/Liveryman