Posse (1975 film)


Posse is a 1975 Technicolor American revisionist Western Panavision film, produced by, directed by and starring Kirk Douglas. The screenplay was written by Christopher Knopf and William Roberts. The plot centers on a U.S. marshal with political ambitions leading an elite posse in pursuit of a notorious train robber to further his political career. The film premiered in New York City on June 4, 1975, and in June the same year in Berlin at the 25th Berlin International Film Festival, where Douglas was nominated for the Golden Bear.

Plot

Howard Nightingale, a U.S. marshal, leads an elite uniformed posse to track down and capture the infamous train robber Jack Strawhorn. He is doing so to further his political career, as he is running to become a United States Senator. When Nightingale captures Strawhorn it seems like his election is inevitable. However Strawhorn disrupts everything when he escapes, kidnapping Nightingale in the process. He demands a ransom of $40,000 from the posse for Nightingale's safe return—the same amount of money the posse burned when it first tracked Strawhorn down and killed the members of his gang. In order to raise the money Nightingale's posse has to rob the town, thus turning the public against Nightingale. The posse members, ever since they first captured Strawhorn, had been given reason to doubt that their loyalty to Nightingale is reciprocated. It sets up a final confrontation where they have to re-assess whose side they are on.

Cast