Kirk Douglas wears many hats as producer, director and star in this mid 1970’s western as U.S. Marshall Howard Nightingale – a man whose hubris is only equaled by his political ambition, in this entertaining deconstruction of the hero myth. Hot on the trail of charismatic criminal Jack Strawhorn (Bruce Dern) and his gang, who’ve just relieved a train of $40,000 – Nightingale and his posse track the train robbers to a barn, where in lieu of taking prisoners, they burn the gang and their ill begotten loot to the ground. Strawhorn escapes a fiery death and Marshall Nightingale vows to catch him, and in the process, plans to use the high profile arrest to capture a seat on the U.S. Senate. Douglas and Dern have a wonderful cat and mouse chemistry, and Bo Hopkins, James Stacy, Luke Askew and David Canary are strong in supporting roles. Posse is rooted in post Watergate cynicism of politicians, with an ending that is consistent with 1970’s genre-subverting cinema.
