Posse (Blu-ray Review)
- Review Date: May 01, 2025
- Format: Blu-ray Disc
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Director
Kirk DouglasRelease Date(s)
1975 (April 29, 2025)Studio(s)
The Bryna Company/Paramount Pictures (Kino Lorber Studio Classics)- Film/Program Grade: B+
- Video Grade: A
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: B
Review
Made in the wake of the Watergate scandal, Posse is a Western with a cautionary tale about men whose aspirations mask an ulterior motive. The film follows a lawman as he attempts to capture a notorious criminal, not only to protect the populace but primarily to assure his election to political office.
Texas marshal Howard Nightingale (Kirk Douglas, Spartacus) has assembled a hand-picked posse and has a reputation for always getting the bad guys. Nightingale looks at his job as a means to garner the public’s adulation and win election to the U.S. Senate. The posse has just decimated the gang of Jack Strayhorn (Bruce Dern, The Great Gatsby), destroying in the process the $40,000 they stole. Through a stroke of luck, however, Strayhorn escapes.
The marshal knows the job isn’t finished. Capturing Strayhorn, he believes, is the key to his election. Nightingale not only succeeds, he also parades his captive into town, expecting and receiving the adulation of the grateful residents. Newspaperman Harold Hellman (James Stacy), however, is suspicious of Nightingale’s true motivations and publishes editorials accusing the marshal of having been bought by the railroad. Nightingale uses a private train to transport Strayhorn to jail, but the prisoner uses his ingenuity to escape, turning the tables on the marshal and leading to an eventual confrontation.
Douglas, who also produced and directed this film, incorporates 1970s sensibilities into a period Western. The portrayals of a corrupt lawman and a dangerous bank robber are painted in shades of grey. Nightingale, when we first meet him, appears to be a traditional Western hero—brave, dedicated, determined to capture the arch-criminal—and Strayhorn is a grungy, cold-blooded killer. But as the film develops, we see aspects of both that make them far more complex. Nightingale, blinded by ambition, underestimates Strayhorn. Seeing how the marshal courts publicity and acclaim, Strayhorn determines to destroy what Nightingale values most—his reputation. The film has plenty of action but is essentially a mind game between two masters, a sort of chess match on horseback.
Douglas plays the no-longer-young marshal as a man who knows the value of a high profile to winning votes. Elections are won on accomplishments and promises, and Douglas’s Nightingale is adept at both.
Strayhorn isn’t a typical thug, like most of his gang members. Dern’s crafty delivery convinces us that Strayhorn’s intelligence makes him an exceptionally difficult challenge for Nightingale.
Posse is a revisionist Western in that it applies modern attitudes to earlier periods. In the early days of Westerns, good and bad were clearly defined, the main cliche being that good guys wore white hats, bad guys wore black. The 1970s produced a number of films that blurred the hero’s motivations, among them The French Connection, Dog Day Afternoon, Death Wish, and Dirty Harry. Posse gives the Western an interesting spin that freshens one of films’ oldest genres.
The screenplay by William Roberts and Christopher Knopf, from an original story by Knopf, has plenty of action and some good dialogue between Nightingale and Dern, but for a film starring Kirk Douglas, it’s Bruce Dern who fares best. His part is better written and we see there’s more to his Strayhorn than violent outlaw. The cat-and-mouse nature of the film is its strength. The character of Nightingale is not nearly as detailed as it should be. He remains rather distant and cold throughout—more a symbol of beneficent corruption than an actual human being.
To his credit, director Douglas creates some memorable set pieces, including a runaway train on fire, loaded with dynamite, and two excitingly staged shootouts. The supporting cast is strong, notably Bo Hopkins (The Day of the Locust) and Luke Askew (How the West Was Won) as posse members and Alfonso Arau (The Wild Bunch) as an outlaw.
With its familiar Western tropes, Posse might have wound up as a made-for-TV movie were it not for Kirk Douglas as star, considerable production value, and contemporary relevance. At a modest running time of 92 minutes, the screenplay is tight, with little padding. The picturesque locations suggest the old West.
Posse was shot by director of photography Fred J. Koenekamp on 35 mm film with Panavision lenses, finished photochemically, and presented in the aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The Blu-ray release features a new 4K scan of the original 35 mm camera negative. Clarity is excellent with details, such as stubble on men’s faces, the locomotive engine, manes on horses, and signage on stores in the town well delineated. In one scene, we see images upside-down in color through the lens of an old-time camera, then rightside-up in black & white on the photographic plate. The outdoor sequences feature mountains, a river, and assorted shrubbery, creating some nice panoramic widescreen compositions. Horses are prominent in most outdoor scenes. A fire aboard the train and a couple of explosions add visual pizzazz.
The soundtrack is English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio. English SDH subtitles are an available option. Dialogue is clear and distinct. Sound effects include gunfire, a barn conflagration, horses’ hooves, ambient crowd noise, a train’s chugging and its whistle blowing, a rough-and-tumble baseball game near a shallow river, and body pummeling.
Bonus materials on the Region A Blu-ray release from Kino Lorber Studio Classics include the following:
- Audio Commentary by Steve Mitchell
- Trailer (1:44)
- Man Without a Star Trailer (:59)
- Gunfight at the O.K. Corral Trailer (2:13)
- The Last Sunset Trailer (2:31)
- Lonely Are the Brave Trailer (:54)
- Will Penny Trailer (3:10)
- Doc Trailer (2:42)
- Chato’s Land Trailer (2:10)
- Joe Kidd Trailer (2:23)
- Valdez Is Coming Trailer (2:53)
Commentary – Filmmaker and historian Steve Mitchell refers to Posse as “a different kind of Western.” The Greatest Generation enjoyed action and loved Westerns. In the 1970s, when Westerns were starting to fade in popularity, the genre was able to support a subversive change, with such films as The Professionals, The Wild Bunch, and Big Jake. These films focused on the waning days of the old West and were, in a sense, bidding farewell to the genre. Douglas had starred in many Westerns, the most popular being The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. At age 59, he was an old-school movie star looking for an age-appropriate character to play. His recent pictures hadn’t done well and his appeal was diminishing . Douglas worked with people who were expert in their disciplines. Posse shows influences from The Wild Bunch with blood spurting from gunshot wounds. The kills aren’t “clean,” as in earlier Westerns. Action sequences and stunts are all performed “before the lens,” and include a character on fire, a vintage train, and a barn engulfed in flames. Douglas introduces black humor in the shootout as the gang members die because they’re stupid. Bruce Dern was very much a part of the new Hollywood. He had come up through roles on TV and eventually got roles in A pictures. Douglas is restrained in his performance. The commentator points out Fred Koenekamp’s atmospheric lighting in several scenes and reads excerpts from reviews in Variety, The New York Times, Movietone News, Independent Film Journal, and filmfanatic.org. In conclusion, he calls Posse “a very solid picture” and a great showcase for many of the actors. It didn’t make a “big dent with the audience,” but it’s worthy of respect.
Posse lacks the scope of such Westerns as The Wild Bunch, Red River and High Noon, but it delivers a solid story with good lead performances. As triple threat star/producer/director, Kirk Douglas emphasizes a theme of corruption and hidden agendas. This was the second of only two films Douglas directed and wasn’t a major box office success in a year that saw Jaws, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (produced by Douglas’ son Michael), Dog Day Afternoon, and Nashville. Douglas’ considerable star aura adds to the stature of Posse.
- Dennis Seuling