Posse

Director: Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas

Overview

In this offbeat western, Kirk Douglas stars as Howard Nightingale, a U.S. marshal who attempts to energize his political career by capturing fugitive Jack Strawhorn (Bruce Dern).

Product Details

Release Date:	11/26/2019
UPC:	0032429311580
Original Release:	1975
Rating:	PG
Source:	ALLIED VAUGHN
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:32:00
Sales rank:	2,565

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Kirk Douglas	Howard Nightingale
Bruce Dern	Jack Strawhorn
Bo Hopkins	Wesley
James Stacy	Harold Hellman
Luke Askew	Krag
David Canary	Pensteman
Alfonso Arau	Peppe
Kate Woodville	Mrs. Cooper
Mark Roberts	Mr. Cooper,Mr. Cooper
Beth Brickell	Mrs. Ross
Dick O'Neill	Wiley
Bill Burton	McCanless,McCanless
Louis Elias	Rains,Rains
Gus Greymountain	Reyno
Allan Warwick	Telegrapher
Roger Behrstock	Sheriff Buwalda
Jess Riggle	Hunsinger
Stephanie Steele	Amie
Dick Armstrong	Shanty Principal
Larry Finley	Shanty Principal
Pat Tobin	Shanty Principal
Melody Thomas Scott	Laurie
Allan Warnick	Actor
Maurice Jarre	Composer
Joseph Gershenson	Composer

Technical Credits

Christopher Knopf

William Roberts

Kirk Douglas	Director,Producer
Phil Feldman	Executive Producer,Producer
Christopher Knopf	Screenwriter
Phil Cory	Special Effects
William H. Burton	Stunts
Tom Overton	Sound Effects
Richard Portman	Sound Effects
William Roberts	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

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.