Will Penny (1967)

Aging cowboy Will Penny gets a line camp job on a large cattle spread and finds his isolated cabin is already occupied by a husbandless woman and her young son.

Director:

Tom Gries

Writer:

Tom Gries

Stars:

Charlton Heston, Joan Hackett, Donald Pleasence

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Charlton Heston	...	Will Penny
Joan Hackett	...	Catherine Allen
Donald Pleasence	...	Preacher Quint
Lee Majors	...	Blue
Bruce Dern	...	Rafe Quint
Ben Johnson	...	Alex - Flat Iron Ranch Foreman
Slim Pickens	...	Ike Walterstein
Clifton James	...	Catron
Anthony Zerbe	...	Dutchy
Roy Jenson	...	Boetius Sullivan
G.D. Spradlin	...	Anse Howard
Quentin Dean	...	Jennie
William Schallert	...	Dr. Fraker
Lydia Clarke	...	Mrs. Fraker
Robert Luster	...	Shem Bodine

Storyline

Will Penny, an aging cowpoke, takes a "line-rider" job on a vast cattle ranch requiring him to keep trespassers and squatters moving until they're off the property. Ironically, he discovers that the mountain cabin reserved for the line rider has been appropriated by Catherine Allen and her young son, Horace, whose guide has deserted them en route to Oregon to join Catherine's husband. Too soft-hearted and ashamed to kick mother and child out just as the bitter Rocky Mountains winter sets in, he agrees to share the cabin until the spring thaw. But it isn't just the snow that slowly thaws; lonely man and woman soon forget their considerable dissimilarities and start developing a deep, if awkward and unstated, love for each another. Beyond this, Horace finds in Will the father he's never known, and Will finds in Horace the son he's never known he's wanted. The trio's little refuge is then invaded by Bible-quoting preacher Quint and his murderous family of "rawhiders", who'd earlier ...

---

Plot Keywords:

west | cow | long night | leather | long underwear | 

---

Taglines:

Grizzled. Tough. A Rawhider. A Loner. Look at him. You'd never know he could love... just as hard as he could hate!

---

Genres:

Romance | Western

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 April 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

...E o Bravo Ficou Só

Filming Locations:

Old Tucson - 201 S. Kinney Road, Tucson, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,400,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Eva Marie Saint and Lee Remick turned down the role of Catherine Allen.

---

Goofs

When "preacher" Quint is shot in front of the line shack the rope attached to him to pull him backwards is very obvious and very noticeable.

---

Quotes

Preacher Quint: I knew'd a fellow once, his wagon team got away with him and run a wheel spoke right through his middle. Bled hisself out, right there. Don't you know how easy it was? It was like taking a little sleep under a shady tree, didn't hurt none at all. He just got kind of drowsy, and he just, well, he just dozed off. Well, sir, it ain't gonna be that easy for you. No, sir, not that easy.

---

Connections

Featured in Ben Johnson: Third Cowboy on the Right (1996)

---

Soundtracks

The Lonely Rider
Music by David Raksin
Lyrics by Robert Wells
Sung by Don Cherry

User Reviews

A Heston Favorite

In his memoirs Charlton Heston waxed pretty eloquent about this film, that he considers a personal favorite. He does some of his best work here in a role that's against type.

Charlton Heston probably has played more real people on screen than any other actor in history. Everything from Moses to Andrew Jackson to Brigham Young to Henry VIII. All of them are endowed with Heston's peculiar talent to bring a certain nobility to all of them.

Will Penny is just an ordinary aging cowboy from the last century working in Brokeback Mountain country. Nothing noble about him, nothing special unless you count the fact that he does his job, does it well and expects to be paid for same. He's probably the kind of guy that Ennis Delmar and Jack Twist would identify with.

Penny gets himself tangled up with a woman and her small son who've taken refuge in the line rider's cabin he's supposed to be in. And he's also earned the emnity of a murderous family of thieves led by crazy patriarch Donald Pleasance.

Heston in his memoirs paid tribute to his co-star Joan Hackett who he says was a great talent and left us too early. She gives a good performance in her role fighting for herself and her child to survive in a rugged winter.

Look for some realistic western portrayals from veterans like Ben Johnson, G.D. Spradlin, Slim Pickens, Anthony Zerbe, Lee Majors, Bruce Dern, and William Schallert.

Will Penny is very similar to Lee Marvin's classic Monte Walsh. A whole lot of the same issues and problems are portrayed there in the same realistic style.

I'm sure Ennis and Jack would have made it point to see Will Penny back in the day.