Wuchak Released in 1975, "Posse" is a Western starring Kirk Douglas and Bruce Dern. Douglas plays, Nightingale, a marshal campaigning for the Senate in West Texas while Dern plays Strawhorn, a notorious outlaw leader whom Nightingale wants to bring in to increase his chances of winning the election. Bo Hopkins is on hand as one of the marshal's deputies while James Stacy plays a newspaper editor who opposes the marshal's campaign.The movie debuted a year after Nixon resignation due to the Watergate scandal and "Posse" takes advantage of the public's loss of trust in politicians. Nightingale (Douglas) and his deputies are subtly juxtaposed with Strawhorn (Dern) and his losers. There's no overt message, however, until the last 20 minutes. Speaking of which, the twist of the climax initially turned me off and filled me with disgust. But, after reflecting on it, I saw what the movie was getting across and respected it. It's just that the way the message is conveyed is awkwardly implemented. It could've been done more smoothly.Some critics mistake the film's message as comparing a (supposedly) corrupt politician with a (supposedly) honest lawbreaker, but this is inaccurate. For one thing, "honest lawbreaker" is an oxymoron, particularly where Strawhorn is concerned. Right out of the gate the movie plainly shows him to be a murderous thug and, while a smooth-talker, he's never made out to be the good guy. He's a scumbag criminal worthy of hanging, impure and simple. Nor is Nightingale shown to be wickedly corrupt. He's a commanding marshal of the territory, which is a good thing; he has political aspirations and ties to the railroad, so what? Even when tempted by the blond hottie Mrs. Ross (Beth Brickell) he charmingly turns her down on the grounds that it wouldn't be advantageous to his political goals. Isn't that what wisdom is—having the scruples to recognize and deny foolish, immoral or destructive desires/behaviors? For more insights on the message of the movie remember that the film's called "Posse." See below for details.Beyond the movie's message, "Posse" is a competent, entertaining Western with interesting characters, a quality cast and quite a bit of action.The film runs 92 minutes and was shot in Sabino Canyon, Florence, Sonoita, Aravaipa Canyon and Old Tucson, Arizona.GRADE: B+ ***SPOILER ALERT*** (Don't read further if you haven't seen the movie) I didn't find the deputies' sudden shift to the life of outlawry to be believable. True, they would each have $6000, which would've taken three years for them to make doing honest work, but it wasn't like this was enough moolah to radically change their lives, not to mention they'd lose the prestige that came with being deputies; and the possibility of becoming marshals or sheriffs one day. No matter how you slice it this was an awkwardly implemented twist.That said, there were signs that the 'posse' were already bad (with the exception of one deputy who refused to betray Nightingale and turn to crime). For instance, at least three of them are shown secretly bedding some babes from the town in a conveniently available boxcar. These nubile ladies were obviously attracted to the "bad boys," which just so happen to be 'upstanding deputies,' members of the brave posse. What else is new? So what's the movie saying? The line between respectable profession and outlawry can be very thin. People can be in an honest occupation and be corrupt; they're essentially just masquerading. It happens everywhere all the time. One critic lambasted the film for it's "tortuous confusion of good and evil." Actually, the movie just sheds light on the existence of evil in places where people naively pull the wool over the eyes not to see it. Look no further than HiLIARy. What about Nightingale? Was he shady or just his men? I personally don't think he was. He struck me as an ambitious justice-seeking marshal with political aspirations and he refused to even consider an illicit sexual liaison. But it's not a good reflection on his character that the majority of his men were corrupt, so maybe he was too, at least a little; and it would overtly manifest down the line in office.Any movie that can spur such questions is a good one.

wes-connors While running for U.S. Senator, publicity-conscious Texas marshal Kirk Douglas (as Howard Nightingale) captures bandit Bruce Dern (as Jack Strawhorn) - but the outlaw turns the tables on the lawman... "Posse" is a well-constructed film in that you can see the lawman and outlaw change places, and your expectations (at least in 1975) may not be met at the conclusion. It promises to "knock you off your horse." This is a Kirk Douglas production in which he stars and directs. A generous man, Mr. Douglas gives the best part in the drama to Mr. Dern. Douglas also casts Bo Hopkins (as Wesley) well, and puts James Stacy (as Harold Hellman) in a dignified role - the "Lancer" TV hero had lost an arm and a leg in a motorcycle accident.In most cases, you do not watch a film and "see" the director at work. Or, if it's someone like Alfred Hitchcock, the director's presence becomes unobtrusive, and most critics will complain if there are no obvious directorial "touches" in evidence. In truth, interest in the story should be above the director's art.Here, you often "see" Douglas at work. It takes you out of the story often during the first half while what is happening is secondary to the cast and camera playing by Douglas (with terrific photography from Fred Koenekamp). Douglas did not have the opportunity to develop a "style" - or the train sequences in this film might have been considered classic Douglas. They are very nicely done, and the ending isn't bad, either.******* Posse (6/4/75) Kirk Douglas ~ Kirk Douglas, Bruce Dern, Bo Hopkins, James Stacy

isabelle1955 It's amazing what you'll watch when you've been at sea a while. Like 32 year old westerns. What's even more amazing is how much you enjoy them. To be honest, I've always been a bit of a fan of the old Horse Opera. There's a lot to be said for good old fashioned, uncomplicated entertainment, especially after a few weeks sitting off the coast of Indonesia staring at geophysical equipment. And this one co-starred an actor who used to give me distinct palpitations of the heart when I was 14 years old, (James Stacy), and I wanted to see if the effect was still there. (It isn't.) The story is straightforward and opens in a spirited style with a barn burning. Howard Nightingale (Kirk Douglas who also directed and produced) wants to be elected a Senator from the state of Texas. In order to win public support, he takes a train around the state traveling from place to place with a posse and horses, ready to leap out of the train at every stop to round up criminals in general and one notorious gang of train robbers led by Jack Strawhorn (Bruce Dern) in particular. If ever an outlaw felt entitled to utter the phrase "How can I soar like an eagle while I'm surrounded by turkeys", it's poor Strawhorn. His ambition is blighted by a series of dumb and dumber gang cohorts with a rampantly low IQ and a collective sense of loyalty less reliable than a railroad timetable. They betray him, lose his carefully hoarded loot, allow themselves to get carelessly burned to death and generally let him down at every turn, until the inevitable happens and he's caught. With Strawhorn in jail, Nightingale allows himself to be feted by the towns' folk (generally portrayed as good, honest imbeciles) before moving on to Austin, the state capital, and greater things. Of course Strawhorn escapes by tricking his predictably stupid guards, the plan goes awry, and, besides which, is Nightingale really the honest and upright, baby-kissing political servant he claims to be, on the side of the people? Or is he really just in the pay of the railroad kings, willing to sacrifice the voters for richer masters? Will the disabled but honest newspaper editor (Stacy, in his first movie after losing an arm and a leg in a horrific motorcycle accident) find him out? Will Nightingale's posse seduce every woman in town before the train pulls out? And did someone steal that dramatic scene of the mounted horses leaping out of the railway carriage for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid? Or from Butch Cassidy? I can't recall which movie is older. The acting is pretty basic - with the exception of Dern and Stacy - who gives a low key but quite effective performance in a small role which I think was written especially for him - the characters are pretty much stock Western types, and the movie contains just about every Western cliché in the book, and yet………………… I admit to having enjoyed it. It's an uncomplicated, fun melodrama that doesn't take itself too seriously and doesn't claim to be especially meaningful. It whiled away an hour and a half quite pleasantly.One slightly worrying note; some of the stunts using horses looked horribly real, this movie may well have been made in the bad old days when animals were routinely maltreated during movie production and often sacrificed for a good stunt. Horses appear to take crashing falls, leap out of moving trains and tumble off cliffs into rivers with alarming regularity. I hope it wasn't all as real as it looks.

Jonathon Dabell Kirk Douglas had already directed the somewhat terrible Scalawag in 1973, but that previous flop did not deter him from having a second stab at the directing job a couple of years on. Fortunately, Posse is a much more accomplished film than Scalawag in every way: Douglas's own direction is more assured, the script by Christopher Knopf and William Roberts is very literate and clever, and Fred Koenekamp's cinematography has a good, professional look about it. By 1975, one would have thought that there would be little mileage left in the western genre. It seemed that nothing new could be done, but this one comes up with a fresh twist by having the "hero" gradually revealed as an unlikable and ambitious social climber.Marshal Howard Nightingale (Douglas) publicly announces that he will bring in infamous railroad bandit Jack Strawhorn (Bruce Dern). Although Strawhorn is a criminal of considerable notoriety - and definitely a man who belongs behind bars - Nightingale has an ulterior motive for apprehending his man. For the good Marshal has decided to run for the Texan senate, and believes that if he can nail Strawhorn - painting himself as a hero into the bargain - he will win over plenty of voters. Gradually, more and more people begin to see through Nightingale's selfish and egotistical political plans. His own posse have their doubts about how they will figure in the Marshal's future schemes; a news editor named Hellman (James Stacy) expresses distrust over the Marshal's ludicrously self-important opinion of himself; even Strawhorn eventually realises what his sly adversary is up to. Ultimately, Nightingale loses his posse and his public favour, with a little clever intervention from Strawhorn, and sees his political dreams left in tatters.The critical response to Posse was much more favourable than Douglas's previous directing attempt, and deservedly so. The western action in the film is good, solid stuff, not too violent (as was the trend in '75), but certainly tough enough to satisfy genre addicts. Douglas gives a strong performance as the absurdly self-obsessed marshal, and Dern is even better as the charismatic, even likable, bandit. The subversive nature of the plot (hero gradually turns out to be villain, villain gradually turns out to be hero) is intriguing and fairly fresh, and helps to add interest to the film. While Posse has occasional lulls, and a few noticeably amateurish performances lower down the cast list, it remains a fresh, interesting, and intriguing addition to a virtually exhausted genre.