Themes: Sheriffs and Outlaws, Kidnapping, Political Corruption
Main Cast: Kirk Douglas, Bruce Dern, Bo Hopkins, James Stacy, Luke Askew
Release Year: 1975
Country: US
Run Time: 92 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Kirk Douglas produced, directed, and starred in this cynical western concerning Howard Nightingale (Kirk Douglas) a United States marshal who uses the pursuit of an outlaw to further his political career. Nightingale organizes a posse to track down Jack Strawhorn (Bruce Dern), a notorious bank robber. But Strawhorn turns the tables on Nightingale, kidnapping him and holding him hostage. He then demands that the posse pay $40,000 for Nightingale's safe return. In order to raise the money to free Nightingale, the posse must become bank robbers themselves. Meanwhile, Nightingale tries to insinuate himself with Strawhorn and cut a deal for his freedom. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
Released a year after the Watergate scandal forced President Nixon to resign, this Wild West adventure was a thinly veiled message movie as concerned with commenting on this tumultuous political situation as with depicting traditional Western gunplay. In his second outing behind the camera after Scalawag (1973), director/star Kirk Douglas did not work too hard to bury the film's liberal sentiments: Posse opened and closed with a title card featuring an image of an eagle and the legend, "To the polls, ye sons of freedom." Douglas' villain, Sheriff Nightingale, is a corporate sell-out, doing the bidding of a railroad against the interests of the citizens who elected him. In zealously seeking a deranged bandit (well played by Bruce Dern, already becoming typecast in this kind of role), Nightingale seems to be seeking traditional frontier justice, but in fact he abandons his principles for federal office. The film's obvious message was a warning to the American populace to beware politicians who would bow to the military-industrial complex and seek power for its own sake. Douglas cast James Stacy as a crippled and cynical Civil War veteran, an obvious reference to returning Vietnam vets who protested the war; Stacy had been an up-and-coming star who lost an arm and a leg in a motorcycle accident. Most people thought his career was over, but Posse gave him a well-received comeback. To the film's benefit, Douglas eschewed the staginess of the maligned Scalawag and kept the action buzzing along briskly. On its surface, Posse has a somewhat dated quality, due largely to such signatures of the era as over-exposures and freeze-frames. However, the fast pace, all-star cast, and surprisingly universal relevance of its political statement have given it a long shelf life as an effective Western. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
David Canary - Pensteman; Alfonso Arau - Peppe; Katherine Woodville - Mrs. Cooper; Mark Roberts - Mr. Cooper; Dick O'Neill - Wiley; Billy Burton - McCanless; Gus Greymountain - Reyno; Allan Warnick - Telegrapher; Roger Behrstock - Sheriff; Dick Armstrong; Melody Thomas - Laurie; Beth Brickell - Mrs. Ross; Louie Elias - Rains; Larry Finley
Credit
Alexander Golitzen - Art Director, Alfred Sweeney - Art Director, Jack Roe - First Assistant Director, Kirk Douglas - Director, Frederic Knudtson - Editor, John W. Wheeler - Editor, Joseph E. Gershenson - Composer (Music Score), Maurice Jarre - Composer (Music Score), Bud Westmore - Makeup, Catherine Hardwicke - Production Designer, Lyle Wheeler - Production Designer, Fred Koenekamp - Cinematographer, Clifford Stine - Cinematographer, Charles Wheeler - Cinematographer, Kirk Douglas - Producer, Phil Feldman - Producer, Gordon Kay - Producer, Oliver Emert - Set Designer, Fred R. Price - Set Designer, Lyle Wheeler - Set Designer, Tom Overton - Sound/Sound Designer, Richard Portman - Sound/Sound Designer, Clair Huffaker - Screenwriter, Christopher Knopf - Screenwriter, William Roberts - Screenwriter, Christopher Knopf - Book Author
The film's plot centres around Howard Nightingale (Kirk Douglas), a U.S. marshal who leads an elite posse to track down and capture the infamous bank robber Jack Strawhorn (Bruce Dern), in an effort to further his political career when running for senator. Nightingale is successful, however, Strawhorn throws a spanner in the works when he kidnaps Nightingale and holds him hostage. Before long he demands a ransom of $40,000 from the posse for Nightingale's safe return—the same amount of money that the posse burned when tracking Strawhorn down and killing his gang. In order to raise the money, Nightingale's posse have to rob the town of all its money, thus turning the public against Nightingale.
