ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Borserie it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

Matho The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

lost-in-limbo U.S Marshal Howard Nightingale is a man who has big political aspirations and to achieve this dream. He and his posse of deputies go after an out-law Jack Strawhorn. When Nightingale captures Strawhorn, just like his other captors or conquests he exploits it through the media for public support. Strawhorn would be Nightingale's ticket into the US senate, but Strawhorn thinks otherwise.Can westerns be too low-key? 'Posse' felt so. Kirk Douglas directs and stars in this understated, but thoroughly ambitious under-the-radar western that had something cynical to say when it came to its closing credits. Quite heavy-handed and aware of its messages (money buys loyalty with the guys donning their badges being no better than the outlaws and representing an image (the people's?) to manipulative achieve a politically upper-hand), but the story's format is just so odd and subversive. The western conventions are there, but by the end William Roberts and Christopher Knopf's cleverly sharp (if sly) material basically turned it upside down with an ironic turn of events. It has that fragrance of the pioneer Hollywood westerns, but its punishing violence and sexual inclusions with a quiet, but powerful conclusion roots it in the 70s. The unusual theme to it and the effortlessly collected and cool-witted performances of Kirk Douglas and Bruce Dern (who shared a terrific chemistry) cover for how mechanical the film did look. Nothing totally skillful or stylish about it. Douglas' direction is raggedly rough and a little too plain. However some action shootouts and chase sequences were competently entertaining, but when the violence did hit, it wasn't presented in such a meaningless parade. It went hand-to-hand with the thoughtful nature of the script. Dick O'Neill's taut, but at times flashy photography is fluidly shot and Maurice Jarre's uncanny score is strongly delivered. Supporting Douglas and Dern (who's character's made great for sparing confrontations) is excellent performances by Bo Hopkins, James Stacy, Beth Brickell, Dick O'Neill and Alfonso Arau. A western that's too interesting to pass up because of the calculating tone lurking underneath.

classicsoncall Finally, after watching literally hundreds of westerns, score one for the bad guy! Bruce Dern's character is Jack Strawhorn, a savvy train robber with enough sense in the early going to know that his gang was second best to Marshal Howard Nightingale's (Kirk Douglas) lawmen. Savvy enough also to allow himself to be captured than to foolishly throw down with Nightingale when he had the upper hand. Strawhorn's capture virtually assures Nightingale of an election win for a U.S. Senate seat, a position he's angling for with a lot more ambition on his mind than simply serving the people.As the story plays out though, things get a whole lot murkier, so much so that the finale winds up totally at odds with any sense of credibility. Granted, Nightingale's men spend a fair amount of time worrying about what will happen to them should he pack up for Washington, D.C. Here's what bothers me though - who's payroll were they actually on to begin with? They were uniformed officers and all wore stars; Nightingale's title was that of a Marshal. So why wouldn't they have remained no worse off than their present circumstances? I can understand them shaking down the town to save the life of their boss, but then to turn around and split up the money just because Strawhorn suggested it just doesn't make sense to me.Other than the ending that proved a letdown for this viewer, the film does have some fine points to offer. The cinematography is more than adequate, and the hijacked train on fire was an exciting touch. There are also two outstanding scenes where horses go above and beyond the call of duty. The first involves a mount going over a cliff and into the water at the Mexican camp, and later when Strawhorn attempts his getaway from the train on horseback. How does one get a horse to take those crazy spills?Pay attention to the scene when Strawhorn plans his breakout on the train. He rigs a garrote from a piece of wire taken apart from a broom and lashes Wesley (Bo Hopkins) tightly by the neck to the bars of the cell. Later when Wesley answers Strawhorn's call to come to his room where Nightingale is kept hostage, there isn't even the slightest hint of redness or abrasion on his neck from the event.One other comment bears mentioning that came across unintentionally funny. The train bearing Nightingale's posse is clearly marked as the Texas and Arizona Rail Road. While stationed at the town of Tesota, three of Nightingale's randy men entertain women folk of the town in secluded quarters. Interestingly, there's a shot of one of the train cars with the abbreviated name - 'T.& A. R.R.' For Wesley and the boys, it certainly was.

stryker-5 Well, not 'the best', perhaps, but an interesting and stylish western starring Kirk Douglas, who also produced and directed it. Bruce Dern is great as Strawhorn, the bad guy who ends up stealing the show. Howard Nightingale is running for a seat in the US Senate. He is a man of great complexity, and one trait very much to the fore in his personality is a ruthless desire to impress the voters. He has assembled a posse of rangers, his own personal uniformed army of crimebusters. Nightingale (played by Douglas) has calculated that he can win the election on a clear-the-territory-of-lowlifes ticket. He and his posse are hunting down Strawhorn, and have fitted out a crusade train for the purpose of capturing their prey. The plan is to grab Strawhorn and hang him just in time for the election. Nightingale is in the pocket of the railroad owners. The local newspaper is the Tesota Sentinel, and one of the film's themes is the valuable role played by the press in speaking truth to those in power. One-armed, one-legged journalist Harold Hellman (played by James Stacy, who had recently lost both limbs on a motor cycle accident) is the equal of the photogenic wannabe Senator. Nightingale works the crowd with glib words, but his position is being eroded by a different formula of words - that used by The Sentinel. One of the film's elegant touches is the photography motif. At various points in the story, the participants pose to have their picture taken, and the resulting stills form a freeze-frame chronicle of the action. A lot of post-production work went into dubbing extraneous voices onto the soundtrack, so that the crowd scenes are laced with apposite little remarks. A violently-burning train provides terrific visuals, as well as offering acerbic comment on Nightingale's political aspirations. The film's concluding message, that by its nature a standing army is a threat to democracy, is well made - as is the point about the fickleness of public opinion. Verdict - A clever, enjoyable little western.

Wizard-8 Bet you didn't know that Kirk Douglas took the director's chair a couple of times, POSSE being one of them. If you like westerns, like me, you'll probably find this decent. The movie does suffer from the middle third of the movie, where the story pretty much grinds to a halt. Though this part wasn't really boring, it will probably make you wish they would get on with it. Also, the actions taken by certain characters near the end, though having some justification, didn't seem to have enough justification.On the positive side, POSSE is well shot, well acted, good production values, and an interesting ending. It's worth seeing.P.S. - Leonard Maltin's description of this movie isn't exactly how the movie plays.