This is a decent if typical 60's comedy that could have been better if it had less focus on gimmicky cliches and site gags and more character development. The widowed Doris Day gets involved in sheep ranching in hopes of getting her son back who has gone to live with his paternal grandfather. This stirs up the populas of chauvanistic men against her but stirs up the other local women before some minds of the men get changed.
The dependable Peter Graves joins MacRae, Hudson, Garner and Taylor as a memorable leading man, initially just trying to protect her and eventually fully supporting her as he encourages her to fight against the big cattle ranchers who are fighting her for use of the cattle grazing land she has inherited. It's a fight against corruption as well as for women to own property,
George Kennedy (who would win an Oscar for the same year's "Cool Hand Luke"), Andy Devine, William Talman and John Fiedler are among the men with Kennedy as the heavy, and Audrey Christie as the town matriarch who helps stir up the others. There's so much potential for a modern period story of how women helped win the west, but the script weakens that potential.
Still, there's a lot to like here, and how can you ever say Do Dah to Day? Fortunately she does not have to sing the horrible theme song over the credits, and as much as she apparently dislike the script, she makes the most of it all, particularly in a scene where she spends a day working in a busy restaurant catering to the cattlemen, catching fly paper in her hair.
Doris had worse films at the time that she didn't want to do ("Caprice" and "Where were you When the Lights went Out?"), So in spite of the fact that this supposedly was so bad that it ended her film career, that is not so. It may have been limited to neighborhood theaters rather than get the big movie palaces, but it looks good for its natural vistas and Day still looks good, even in dungarees.
The dependable Peter Graves joins MacRae, Hudson, Garner and Taylor as a memorable leading man, initially just trying to protect her and eventually fully supporting her as he encourages her to fight against the big cattle ranchers who are fighting her for use of the cattle grazing land she has inherited. It's a fight against corruption as well as for women to own property,
George Kennedy (who would win an Oscar for the same year's "Cool Hand Luke"), Andy Devine, William Talman and John Fiedler are among the men with Kennedy as the heavy, and Audrey Christie as the town matriarch who helps stir up the others. There's so much potential for a modern period story of how women helped win the west, but the script weakens that potential.
Still, there's a lot to like here, and how can you ever say Do Dah to Day? Fortunately she does not have to sing the horrible theme song over the credits, and as much as she apparently dislike the script, she makes the most of it all, particularly in a scene where she spends a day working in a busy restaurant catering to the cattlemen, catching fly paper in her hair.
Doris had worse films at the time that she didn't want to do ("Caprice" and "Where were you When the Lights went Out?"), So in spite of the fact that this supposedly was so bad that it ended her film career, that is not so. It may have been limited to neighborhood theaters rather than get the big movie palaces, but it looks good for its natural vistas and Day still looks good, even in dungarees.