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Will Penny
1967
Cowboy, Will Penny, stops over at the home of Catherine, wife of an Oregon farmer. Catherine is attracted to Will and although Will is attracted to Catherine, he behaves like a perfect gentleman... Read more
| Starring | Charlton Heston, Joan Hackett, Donald Pleasence, Bruce Dern |
|---|---|
| Director | Tom Gries |
| Genres | Action/Adventure |
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Will Penny
Cowboy, Will Penny, stops over at the home of Catherine, wife of an Oregon farmer. Catherine is attracted to Will and although Will is attracted to Catherine, he behaves like a perfect gentleman...
| Starring | Charlton Heston, Joan Hackett, Donald Pleasence, Bruce Dern, Lee Majors, Ben Johnson, Slim Pickens, Clifton James |
|---|---|
| Director | Tom Gries |
| Studio | PARAMOUNT HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 45 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Action/Adventure |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Dubbed | French, German, Italian, Spanish |
| Hearing-impaired | English |
| Subtitles | DVD: Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Turkish |
| Released | DVD: 03 Mar 2003 Production year: 1967 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (3)
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This marvellous winter western contains a fine performance by Charlton Heston as the grizzled lone rider of the title, who confronts the memorable Joan Hackett and is uncertain of how to break the tough habits of a lifetime: “I'm a cowboy. I don't know nuthin' else.” Director Tom Gries, aided off screen by his friend Sam Peckinpah, never hit these heights again: this is unquestionably one of the great westerns, invariably overlooked, and marred only by the florid performance of an ill-cast Donald Pleasence. The photography by Lucien Ballard — who was also responsible for the look of Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch and Henry Hathaway's True Grit — is particularly outstanding, as is the fine score from Laura's David Raksin.
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This mean, moody and magnificent Western still remains Tom Gries' sole claim to fame: before it he directed mid-'50s... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful member's review
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
another classic western
Charlton Heston plays the crusty old cowboy, well past his sell by date (40). After a tough cattle drive he leaves with two pals to find a place to survive the harsh winter. They encounter some bad guys and fight over a deer, killing the bad guys son. One of Hestons friends shoots himself in the process, and the rest of the bad guys hunt him down for the rest of the movie. He falls in love with a squatter, but in the end they part as he is too old to be of use to a family
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Most recent members' review
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
Hard to Hackett.
It's difficult to watch Joan Hackett as Catherine and to reflect she would be dead 15 or so years later. She brings sexual reticence and beguiling integrity to a character that less intelligent, more celebrated actresses thought too plain to play. Once the Mother Reilly hat disappears, she allows herself to warm to the grizzled masochism and stunted imagination of a mere 'cowpoke'. Her glorious hair loosens and her cheeks ripen beneath the hawkish gaze of an increasingly agonized Chuck. Lucien Ballard, whose framing of the mountain landscape is similar to Ride the High Country, gifts her one or two tender close-ups which establish the feminine antidote to a brutish environment in which the hero is irretrievably sunk. But, and this is to the film's credit, her humanity can't harness his obvious moral qualities for something more sane and less saddle sore. I saw this film when it came out. I never forgot her or it. Watching it again I know why. (Though Donald Pleasence may be off with the kites somewhere, there is no resisting Ben Johnson's subtle authority). Well done Chuck for championing it and Sam Peckinpah for helping out.
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