The Ballad of Josie

I had first seen The Ballad of Josie at a kids' summer matinee circa 1980, where they basically showed anything available that was G-rated. Ironically, the only thing I remembered from it was the catchy theme song by Ron Dante (best known as being the real person behind The Archies' music), with the lyrics calling this "a story to remember." Upon its release, it wasn't very well-received and is ranked low in Doris Day's filmography- not quite a story to remember. It also hadn't been available for home viewing aside from a few TV airings and a burned-on-demand DVD a few years ago.

Day is the title character Josie, a feisty woman in Wyoming circa 1890, right before it was admitted to the Union as a state. She's married to Whit (Robert Lowery), who doesn't do much other than get drunk every night. As the movie opens, he stumbles home from the bar and, through an unfortunate event, ends up dead in front of Josie. As the movie handles most things humorously, this is treated mostly as a good thing. The people in town aren't too sad to see him go, and while it's investigated as to whether Josie murdered him, it isn't a big deal. The only real problem she faces is that her son, Luther (Ted Quinn, who isn't given much to do here), is sent to live with Whit's father until she can prove herself to be a suitable mother.

Whit left behind an abandoned house and ranch, so Josie moves in and tries to fix it up, hoping to raise cattle there. The popular opinion was that women couldn't raise cattle (as they weren't thought to be capable of much in those days). In fact, she doesn't have much success with cattle but finds she can do a decent job raising sheep. The problem with that is there's been a long-standing rule of sheep not being allowed within a close range of cows. The cattle ranchers plot to get rid of Josie's sheep, but as a strong, independent woman, she is ready to fight back when they arrive. The town's women rally behind her as well.

That's pretty much the "story to remember." Doris Day herself didn't even regard this movie very highly, but she gives a decent performance here, towing the fine line between a strong character to root for and one who is just a bit clumsy for comedy relief. The supporting cast of men is strong as well, mainly Peter Graves as Jase who stays closest to her side. He partly respects her and sticks up for her independence, but also partly tries to court her as many male movie characters often do. George Kennedy is Arch, who isn't so supportive of her and acts frustrated, like many of his other characters have. A surprise here is David Hartman as the town's sheriff - yes, that David Hartman who is best known for hosting Good Morning America; he had a few acting roles before scoring that gig. 

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-Ray
The Ballad of Josie makes its ride to Blu-Ray in Kino-Lorber's typical style- a case with the original poster art on the front but no printed insert inside, and the usual black disc with white labeling. The dual-layer disc opens with a brief copyright warning and then a static menu screen with the movie's theme song playing.

The Ballad of Josie is presented in its proper 2.35 aspect ratio, looking about as good as intended but not spectacular. Elements are reasonably clean, free of dirt or scratches. A few shots appear a bit shaky, which seems to be baked in to the original elements. Colors are natural without being overly bright, likewise the picture details aren't particularly sharp but clear enough to point out fake backgrounds and the like. (Unsurprisingly, this Wyoming story was actually shot in good old California.)

The mono audio track is nothing special, as expected. Encoded in 2-channel DTS-HD MA, it stays properly centered with surround decoding applied. Fidelity is a bit lacking but servicable, without any noise standing out. "Minor" releases of this era generally didn't get much attention in the sound department, saving multi-channel magnetic sound for the big blockbusters.

• Audio Commentary featuring film historians Howard S. Berger and Steve Mitchell accompanies the movie. Typical of commentaries on Kino-Lorber discs, they spend more time talking about the cast's other work and backgrounds than the movie itself, still making for an interesting listen to those who appreciate film history. They mention that this was the type of film Universal liked to make in that era, and I remember seeing it on TV in bad pan-and-scan transfers long ago.
• Theatrical Trailer 
• KLSC Trailer Gallery:
• Alias Jesse James 
• Texas Across the River 
• Support Your Local Sheriff 
• Paint Your Wagon 
• Midnight Lace 

The Ballad of Josie has been largely underrepresented on the home market, so any fans of this movie or Doris Day completists should appreciate this release. It doesn't look or sound particularly spectacular, but it was never meant to in the first place. The commentary track provides a bit of extra info, overall this release is Worth a Look.