This is a great western that is hardly even known. It's directed by Maggie Greenwald and stars Suzy Amis as a woman in a rich family who is kicked out after she has a kid out of wedlock and she decides to go west. Amis knows she isn't going to survive as a woman because on the first night she is almost raped by two soldiers and barely escapes. So Amis decides to dress as a man and then makes a big cut on her face so it will leave a scar. Amis winds up staying in a mining town and the people believe she's man. Ian McKellen is a man who takes Amis in and shows her the ropes but he can get pretty violent when he's drunk. Amis doesn't stay with him long and winds up buying a place away from town so she can have her privacy. It's a great movie and i can't see why it isn't more well known.

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.

This is a non-action-oriented Western about a woman who, for years, masquerades as a man. At the beginning of the film, she is thrown out by her father after she gives birth to an illegitimate child, so she travels west. However, along the way, she is attacked and decides to disguise herself as a guy so she'll be left alone. While this might be seen as a strongly feminist or gay-positive movie (featuring a very alternative lifestyle, indeed), the movie did not seem preachy or agenda-driven. Instead, it is a smart film that takes a very slow and leisurely pace to the ultimate conclusion. I would have preferred the pace and mood to perhaps be a little less somber, but considering how intelligent the film was, I will certainly forgive this.

Particular standouts are Suzy Amis as Jo and Bo Hopkins. I always felt that Hopkins was a bit of a light-weight (particularly considering the parts in the 1970s), but he proves himself to be an excellent actor. It's a real shame neither of these actors got much work after the film debuted--they certainly deserved it.