Will Penny
Encyclopedia
Will Penny is a 1968
western film
directed by Tom Gries
starring Charlton Heston
and Donald Pleasence
. It was based upon an episode of the 1960
Sam Peckinpah
television series The Westerner
called "Line Camp," which was also written and directed by Tom Gries. Heston mentioned that this was his favorite film in which he appeared.
) is an aging cow hand who at the end of a long trail hires on to ride the boundary of a ranch over the winter. He immediately comes across a woman (Joan Hackett
), Catherine Allen, and her son Horace (Jon Gries
) using one of the remote cabins to over-winter, having been deserted by the guide that her husband paid in advance to lead her and her son over the mountains. Despite his boss' instructions Penny lets them stay in the cabin and gives them a week to move out.
Later, Penny runs afoul of a sadistic family called the Quints, led by Preacher Quint (Donald Pleasence
) who is after him for killing one of the Quint sons some time before, defending his comrades. While out checking the territory, Penny is ambushed and savagely beaten up by the Quints, who leave him for dead. Penny manages to drag himself back to the cabin, where he is slowly nursed back to health by Catherine, with whom he has little choice but to stay afterward.
As Christmas and winter pass, the lonely Penny and sexually repressed Catherine fall in love, and Penny begins to develop fatherly feelings towards the young boy Horace. The three have lived together as a family unit, during which Penny has caught poignant glimpses of everything that has been missing from his own nomadic, rootless life. For a while it seems there is a possibility that he can settle down with the woman and child and continue this happy arrangement. Part of Penny desperately wants to put down roots and end his lonely existence as an itinerant cow hand. Ultimately, however, Penny realizes that he is simply too old to keep on living like he used to (he is around 50) and too set in his ways to ever settle down in a domestic setting. Deeply regretful about what he is leaving behind, he rides away from the woman and child, never to return — though not before having to face the Quints again, and this time defeat them with help from fellow ranchers.
and Robert Wells song "The Lonely Rider" with vocals by Don Cherry
. The exteriors were filmed in Inyo County, California
, USA
.
, Chicago Sun-Times http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19680605/REVIEWS/806050301/1023
"And I got to really like the guy. A lot of people told me that I wouldn't like him, but I liked him. And he tried very hard. I mean, Will Penny is far and away the best thing he's ever done." - Bruce Dern on Charlton Heston http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001136/bio
"Intelligent and thoughtful, Will Penny is a good Western and even a better character study. The West is more than deglamorized here; we get a good approximation of what a real cowboy's life might have been like around the turn of the century." — DVD Savant, DVDTalk http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/4060/will-penny/?___rd=1
"The villains in Will Penny are so unbelievable and so unrealistic that they almost seem like they came out of a Western spoof, rather than the serious, realistic Western which Will Penny aspires to be (and achieves in most other aspects of the story)." — Erik Rupp, Vista Records http://www.vistarecords.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=moviereviews&action=display&thread=156&page=1
"This is one of the classic movies of all time. It will last for all eternity as a classic in writing and in acting.." - Ange Kenos, OPA Magazine, Australia
Other reviews for this and other Heston films can be found in the very fine bio "Charlton Heston: An Incredible Life: Revised Edition" by Michelel Bernier. Published by Createspace in 2009.
1968 in film
The year 1968 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 30 - The film The Lion in Winter, starring Katharine Hepburn, debuts.* November 1 - The MPAA's film rating system is introduced.-Top grossing films :- Awards :...
western film
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
directed by Tom Gries
Tom Gries
Thomas S. "Tom" Gries was an American TV and film director, writer and producer....
starring Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
and Donald Pleasence
Donald Pleasence
Sir Donald Henry Pleasence, OBE, was a British actor who gained more than 200 screen credits during a career which spanned over four decades...
. It was based upon an episode of the 1960
1960 in television
The year 1960 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1960.For the American TV schedule, please see: 1960-61 American network television schedule.-Events:...
Sam Peckinpah
Sam Peckinpah
David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah was an American filmmaker and screenwriter who achieved prominence following the release of the Western epic The Wild Bunch...
television series The Westerner
The Westerner (TV series)
The Westerner is a 1960 Four Star Television Western series on NBC created by Sam Peckinpah. The series stars Brian Keith as Dave Blassingame and features John Dehner as semi-regular Burgundy Smith...
called "Line Camp," which was also written and directed by Tom Gries. Heston mentioned that this was his favorite film in which he appeared.
Plot
Will Penny (Charlton HestonCharlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
) is an aging cow hand who at the end of a long trail hires on to ride the boundary of a ranch over the winter. He immediately comes across a woman (Joan Hackett
Joan Hackett
Joan Ann Hackett was an American actress who appeared on stage, in films, and on television.- Early life :She was born in New York City of Irish and Italian extraction...
), Catherine Allen, and her son Horace (Jon Gries
Jon Gries
Jonathan Francis "Jon" Gries is an American actor, writer and director. He is also credited under the names Jon Francis and Jonathan Gries. He is known for his role in Napoleon Dynamite as Uncle Rico, and more recently as recurring character Roger Linus on Lost...
) using one of the remote cabins to over-winter, having been deserted by the guide that her husband paid in advance to lead her and her son over the mountains. Despite his boss' instructions Penny lets them stay in the cabin and gives them a week to move out.
Later, Penny runs afoul of a sadistic family called the Quints, led by Preacher Quint (Donald Pleasence
Donald Pleasence
Sir Donald Henry Pleasence, OBE, was a British actor who gained more than 200 screen credits during a career which spanned over four decades...
) who is after him for killing one of the Quint sons some time before, defending his comrades. While out checking the territory, Penny is ambushed and savagely beaten up by the Quints, who leave him for dead. Penny manages to drag himself back to the cabin, where he is slowly nursed back to health by Catherine, with whom he has little choice but to stay afterward.
As Christmas and winter pass, the lonely Penny and sexually repressed Catherine fall in love, and Penny begins to develop fatherly feelings towards the young boy Horace. The three have lived together as a family unit, during which Penny has caught poignant glimpses of everything that has been missing from his own nomadic, rootless life. For a while it seems there is a possibility that he can settle down with the woman and child and continue this happy arrangement. Part of Penny desperately wants to put down roots and end his lonely existence as an itinerant cow hand. Ultimately, however, Penny realizes that he is simply too old to keep on living like he used to (he is around 50) and too set in his ways to ever settle down in a domestic setting. Deeply regretful about what he is leaving behind, he rides away from the woman and child, never to return — though not before having to face the Quints again, and this time defeat them with help from fellow ranchers.
Production
The film features a David RaksinDavid Raksin
David Raksin was an American composer born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. With over 100 film scores and 300 television scores to his credit, he became known as the "Grandfather of Film Music." One of his earliest film assignments was as assistant to Charlie Chaplin in the composition of the score...
and Robert Wells song "The Lonely Rider" with vocals by Don Cherry
Don Cherry (singer/golfer)
Donald Ross Cherry is an American singer of traditional pop music, best known for his 1955 hit, "Band of Gold"; and a former amateur and professional golfer.-Biography:...
. The exteriors were filmed in Inyo County, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Cast
- Charlton HestonCharlton HestonCharlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
as Will Penny - Joan HackettJoan HackettJoan Ann Hackett was an American actress who appeared on stage, in films, and on television.- Early life :She was born in New York City of Irish and Italian extraction...
as Catherine Allen - Donald PleasenceDonald PleasenceSir Donald Henry Pleasence, OBE, was a British actor who gained more than 200 screen credits during a career which spanned over four decades...
as Preacher Quint - Ben JohnsonBen Johnson (actor)Ben "Son" Johnson, Jr. was an American motion picture actor who was mainly cast in Westerns. He was also a rodeo cowboy, stuntman, and rancher.-Personal life:...
as Alex (Flat Iron Ranch foreman) - Lee MajorsLee MajorsLee Majors is an American television, film and voice actor, best known for his starring role as Colonel Steve Austin in The Six Million Dollar Man and as Colt Seavers in The Fall Guy ....
as Blue - Bruce DernBruce DernBruce MacLeish Dern is an American film actor. He also appeared as a guest star in numerous television shows. He frequently takes roles as a character actor, often playing unstable and villainous characters...
as Rafe Quint - Slim PickensSlim PickensLouis Burton Lindley, Jr. , better known by the stage name Slim Pickens, was an American rodeo performer and film and television actor who epitomized the profane, tough, sardonic cowboy, but who is best remembered for his comic roles, notably in Dr...
as Ike Walterstein - Anthony ZerbeAnthony ZerbeAnthony Jared Zerbe is an American stage, film and Emmy-winning television actor. Notable film roles include the post-apocalyptic cult leader Matthias in The Omega Man, a 1971 film adaptation of Richard Matheson's 1954 novel, I Am Legend; Milton Krest in the 1989 James Bond film Licence to Kill;...
as Dutchy - Matt ClarkMatt Clark (actor)Matt Clark is an American actor and director with credits in both film and television. Clark has played diverse character roles in Westerns, comedies, and dramas....
as Romulus - Jon GriesJon GriesJonathan Francis "Jon" Gries is an American actor, writer and director. He is also credited under the names Jon Francis and Jonathan Gries. He is known for his role in Napoleon Dynamite as Uncle Rico, and more recently as recurring character Roger Linus on Lost...
as the boy Horace ("Button") G. Allen
Reviews
"The admirable thing about the movie is its devotion to real life. These are the kind of people, we feel, who must really have inhabited the West: common, direct, painfully shy in social situations and very honest." — Roger EbertRoger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
, Chicago Sun-Times http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19680605/REVIEWS/806050301/1023
"And I got to really like the guy. A lot of people told me that I wouldn't like him, but I liked him. And he tried very hard. I mean, Will Penny is far and away the best thing he's ever done." - Bruce Dern on Charlton Heston http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001136/bio
"Intelligent and thoughtful, Will Penny is a good Western and even a better character study. The West is more than deglamorized here; we get a good approximation of what a real cowboy's life might have been like around the turn of the century." — DVD Savant, DVDTalk http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/4060/will-penny/?___rd=1
"The villains in Will Penny are so unbelievable and so unrealistic that they almost seem like they came out of a Western spoof, rather than the serious, realistic Western which Will Penny aspires to be (and achieves in most other aspects of the story)." — Erik Rupp, Vista Records http://www.vistarecords.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=moviereviews&action=display&thread=156&page=1
"This is one of the classic movies of all time. It will last for all eternity as a classic in writing and in acting.." - Ange Kenos, OPA Magazine, Australia
Other reviews for this and other Heston films can be found in the very fine bio "Charlton Heston: An Incredible Life: Revised Edition" by Michelel Bernier. Published by Createspace in 2009.