Upon giving birth out of wedlock, a young woman named "Josephine Monaghan" (Suzy Amis) is forced to leave her parent's home and--after giving her son to her sister--heads out west to start a new life as best she can. Unfortunately, she soon discovers that making ends meet as a single, young female in this particularly brutal environment is almost impossible. So in order to protect herself and avoid being sexually assaulted she puts on male clothing and poses as a young cowboy named "Little Jo" with her final destination being at an isolated mining camp where the people are too busy with their own concerns to pay much notice to her. The problem is that each day she is faced with the possibility of being discovered and for that reason she has to be on her guard at all times. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an entertaining film which was actually based on a true story. Admittedly, although I liked the performance of Suzy Amis, there were some scenes which were a bit difficult to fully believe. But then, according to the real-life story there were several people who suspected Jo Monaghan was female but went about their lives all the same. So perhaps having Suzy Amis in this particular role it isn't so unbelievable after all. One thing I didn't like, however, was the ending which seemed rather unseemly to me but again, perhaps that is also more in tune with history as well. In any case, despite my disbelief on certain issues, I liked this film for the most part and have rated it accordingly.
Review of The Ballad of Little Jo
