The Ballad of Little Jo movie storyline. Based on a true story, this is the tale of Josephine Monaghan, a young woman of the mid-nineteenth century who is thrown out of her parents’ home after being seduced by the family’s portrait photographer and giving birth to his child. Josephine quickly learns that young, female, pretty, and alone are a bad combination for life in the wild west. In her desperation to survive, Josephine disguises herself as “Jo”, a young man, and struggles to make a life for herself in a dingy frontier mining town. Can “Little Jo” live and love without revealing his secret?
The Ballad of Little Jo is a 1993 American western film inspired by the true story of a society woman who tries to escape the stigma of bearing a child out of wedlock by going out to the West, and living disguised as a man. The film stars Suzy Amis, Bo Hopkins, Ian McKellen, David Chung, Heather Graham, Carrie Snodgress and Melissa Leo, and was written and directed by Maggie Greenwald. The Ballad of Little Jo was nominated for the 1994 Independent Spirit Award for best female lead (Amis) and best supporting male (David Chung).
The Ballad of Little Jo (1993)
Directed by: Maggie Greenwald
Starring: Suzy Amis, Bo Hopkins, Ian McKellen, David Chung, Heather Graham, Rene Auberjonois, Carrie Snodgress, Melissa Leo, Sam Robards, Olinda Turturro
Screenplay by: Maggie Greenwald
Production Design by: Mark Friedberg
Cinematography by: Declan Quinn
Film Editing by: Keith Reamer
Costume Design by: Claudia Brown
Set Decoration by: Stephanie Carroll
Art Direction by: Ginger Tougas
Music by: David Mansfield
MPAA Rating: R for sexuality and some violence.
Distributed by: Fine Line Features
Release Date: August 20, 1993
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