While this is not just Doris Day's personal favorite among her films, it was also a lesbian cult film and is still regarded as a milestone in queer film history. The number of allusions, apart from the famous reference in the Oscar-winning song "Secret Love" (which used to be sung by drag queens in underground bars as a gay anthem), are far too many to be coincidental:
All that being said, the film is set in the Black Hills which were well known to be sacred to the Sioux even then. On the way to the ball Calam tells Bill "Don't it thrill you just to look at them hills? No wonder the Injuns fight so fierce to hang on to this country", and then Bill sings "Take me back to the Black Hills, to the beautiful Indian country that I love". So while I love the banter, this scene is insulting for the Sioux and was featured in the documentary "Lakota Nation vs. United States" (2022).
- The mistakenly invited drag performer Francis sings "I'm over 21 and free" while a trombone tears off his wig, a reference to the legal age of consent at the time;
- He and the theater manager end up being covered by a pink shroud in the subsequent riot;
- When Calam arrives in Chicago in her cowboy suit, she ogles a passing woman who smiles back at her;
- Upon meeting Abigail / Katie in the dressing room, Calamity says "'I've never known a woman could look like that";
- Arriving in Deadwood, the theater manager shows Katie the drag performer Francis with the words "permit me introduce a fellow thespian" as he wears a lilac suit matching her dress;
- When Calam shows Katie her cabin, she says "You and me will batch it here as cozy as two bugs in a blanket";
- While renovating the cabin, Katie paints "Calam and Katie" on the door together with a few pansies;
- When Calam and Katie ultimately reconcile and embrace, the coach driver says "Females. Pure females".
All that being said, the film is set in the Black Hills which were well known to be sacred to the Sioux even then. On the way to the ball Calam tells Bill "Don't it thrill you just to look at them hills? No wonder the Injuns fight so fierce to hang on to this country", and then Bill sings "Take me back to the Black Hills, to the beautiful Indian country that I love". So while I love the banter, this scene is insulting for the Sioux and was featured in the documentary "Lakota Nation vs. United States" (2022).