Rating: 
Summary: Almost perfect...
Review: "Will Penny" was the pet project of then untested director/writer Tom Gries. Charlton Heston was very taken with the script, but had hoped for an experienced director ala William Wyler to realize the film. In the end, Gries won the day, and did a laudable job. The film succeeds on many levels, although the climax is quite cliche, and poorly edited to boot.
But "Penny" is primarily about character development, and is a depiction of the severity of life in the West during the 19th century. Here it is very compelling.
Heston plays Will, an aging, illiterate cowboy, who is quite aware of his diminishing place in life. Nevertheless, his single source of pride is 'cowboying', and his bread and butter requires an itinerant, solitary lifestyle. He has never had anything in the way of culture, and never known a conventional love relationship with a woman. He is possessed of, by accident or design, a rather strong moral compass, which is evident in a strong work ethic, honesty, and kindness.
Almost simultaneously, Will runs afoul of some mean ol' boys (rawhiders), led by the completely unhinged Preacher Quint (Donald Pleasence doing the dirty work), and finds budding romance and family with a rather fetching and refined woman (the wonderful Joan Hackett) and her son. The particulars here are not terribly essential, except that the drama unfolds as Will contends with the vendetta of Quint, and agonizes over the 11th hour possibilty of love in his life. Heston delivers a superb performance, nearly being reduced to tears as he considers the life he never had, and the one he feels unfit to take on. He has seen the harshness of debilitating injury and death, and can't seem to reconcile his myopic sense of life with the optimistic picture Cath (Hackett) paints.
"Will Penny" ultimately offers stunning scenery, a superb score by David Raksin, top notch performances by Heston, Hacket, Pleasence, Anthony Zerbe, Clifton James, and Ben Johnson, and weaves fine human drama into an otherwise conventional Western script. It is not perfect, but it's a wonderful watch. It is said to be Heston's personal favorite performance.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the great, realistic Westerns
Review:
One of Charlton Heston's best roles, even if it was a little touted movie, with little critical notice.
This is one of the recent genre of realistic Western movies which include such masterpieces as The Culpepper Cattle Company, Lonesome Dove, The Unforgiven and a few more. They are notable for few real traditional heroes (square jaw, broad shoulders, narrow hips, tall, dark and handsome, with the fastest gun and horse in the West) but realistic plots and depictions of the harsher, more primitive side of the "old West," as well as some wonderful scenery. This is the story of an old (around fifty) illiterate puncher (Charlton Heston) and his two buddies who fight over a deer carcass with a family of rawhiders, ending in bad feelings and a shooting. The story involves a lone woman (Joan Hackett) and her young son traveling through the West together to join her husband (not shown) and having to winter in a line shack when her guide deserts her, with a badly wounded and disabled Heston (who recovers and falls for her). The cast, contrary to one reviewer, is not composed of "pathetic small timers," but includes some of the top Western actors in Hollywood, including Heston, Lee Majors, Joan Hackett, Bruce Dern, Ben Johnson, Slim Pickens and Anthony Zerbe. Hardly small potatoes! The story is excellent, with an ending suitable to the genre, and the casting and acting superb. Allowing even for differences in taste, I find it hard to justify some negative reviewers' remarks except to note that they must have been made by someone who saw a different movie than I. Joseph (Joe) Pierre
author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books
Rating:
Summary: Heston's best
Review: A well written story of an aging, illiterate cow hand, "Will Penny" has a magnificent portrayal by Charlton Heston, who has been quoted as saying that he loved the script, and felt that it was his best performance; it is a subtle and very touching depiction of a man who is realistic about his fate, which is raw and bitter, but not entirely without humor.
Set in the 1880s in Montana, it was shot on location by cinematographer Lucien Ballard in Inyo National Forest, with sweeping panoramas of the Sierra Nevada.
This film was sadly ignored when it was released in 1968; some say the disappointing reception was because "Planet of the Apes" was running at the same time, but I'm inclined to believe it was because it didn't follow the Hollywood formula, in its characters or plot.
The cast supporting Heston is superb, including a glowing performance by Joan Hackett, as a woman stranded with her son in the wilderness, and Jon Gris (son of director Tom Gris), is a delight as "Button", her son.
Donald Pleasence is appropriately manic as the murderous Preacher Quint, and in a small part as the Flat Iron Ranch Foreman, Ben Johnson truly shines. Other terrific actors in small parts are Bruce Dern, Anthony Zerbe, Lee Majors, Slim Pickens, and William Schallert as Dr. Fraker. Lydia Clarke (the real life Mrs. Heston) appears as Mrs. Fraker. Rather along the lines of Clint Eastwood's 1992 "Unforgiven", this is an intelligent, beautifully directed and acted Western, with well-drawn characters, and a good balance between action scenes and the inner landscape of a lonely man.
A must for Heston fans, and also for those who say they don't care for his acting, as this film could well change their minds.
Total running time 1 hour and 50 minutes.
Rating:
Summary: Heston's best
Review: A well written story of an aging, illiterate cow hand, "Will Penny" has a magnificent portrayal by Charlton Heston, who has been quoted as saying that he loved the script, and felt that it was his best performance; it is a subtle and very touching depiction of a man who is realistic about his fate, which is raw and bitter, but not entirely without humor.
Set in the 1880s in Montana, it was shot on location by cinematographer Lucien Ballard in Inyo National Forest, with sweeping panoramas of the Sierra Nevada.
This film was sadly ignored when it was released in 1968; some say the disappointing reception was because "Planet of the Apes" was running at the same time, but I'm inclined to believe it was because it didn't follow the Hollywood formula, in its characters or plot. The cast supporting Heston is superb, including a glowing performance by Joan Hackett, as a woman stranded with her son in the wilderness, and Jon Gris (son of director Tom Gris), is a delight as "Button", her son.
Donald Pleasence is appropriately manic as the murderous Preacher Quint, and in a small part as the Flat Iron Ranch Foreman, Ben Johnson truly shines. Other terrific actors in small parts are Bruce Dern, Anthony Zerbe, Lee Majors, Slim Pickens, and William Schallert as Dr. Fraker. Lydia Clarke (the real life Mrs. Heston) appears as Mrs. Fraker. Rather along the lines of Clint Eastwood's 1992 "Unforgiven", this is an intelligent, beautifully directed and acted Western, with well-drawn characters, and a good balance between action scenes and the inner landscape of a lonely man.
A must for Heston fans, and also for those who say they don't care for his acting, as this film could well change their minds.
Total running time 1 hour and 50 minutes.
Rating:
Summary: Heston's best
Review: A well written story of an aging, illiterate cow hand, "Will Penny" has a magnificent portrayal by Charlton Heston, who has been quoted as saying that he loved the script, and felt that it was his best performance; it is a subtle and very touching depiction of a man who is realistic about his fate, which is raw and bitter, but not entirely without humor.
Set in the 1880s in Montana, it was shot on location by cinematographer Lucien Ballard in Inyo National Forest, with sweeping panoramas of the Sierra Nevada.
This film was sadly ignored when it was released in 1968; some say the disappointing reception was because "Planet of the Apes" was running at the same time, but I'm inclined to believe it was because it didn't follow the Hollywood formula, in its characters or plot. The cast supporting Heston is superb, including a glowing performance by Joan Hackett, as a woman stranded with her son in the wilderness, and Jon Gris (son of director Tom Gris), is a delight as "Button", her son.
Donald Pleasence is appropriately manic as the murderous Preacher Quint, and in a small part as the Flat Iron Ranch Foreman, Ben Johnson truly shines. Other terrific actors in small parts are Bruce Dern, Anthony Zerbe, Lee Majors, Slim Pickens, and William Schallert as Dr. Fraker. Lydia Clarke (the real life Mrs. Heston) appears as Mrs. Fraker. Rather along the lines of Clint Eastwood's 1992 "Unforgiven", this is an intelligent, beautifully directed and acted Western, with well-drawn characters, and a good balance between action scenes and the inner landscape of a lonely man.
A must for Heston fans, and also for those who say they don't care for his acting, as this film could well change their minds.
Total running time 1 hour and 50 minutes.
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: An excellent movie, this is a low key western with good acting and a good story. Very memorable!
Rating:
Summary: This is possibly the richest film I have ever seen.
Review: As well as my favorite. I'd been looking for it on video for years, scouting the TV listing for the rare times that TNT or AMC would show it. This is simply a magnificent piece of cinema, with incredibly graceful camera work, classic characters, and simply the best score I've had the pleasure to hear. The music itself is reason enough to watch the film. I know, I know, it's long and maybe a little slow at times, but this isn't Bruce Willis here, this is art. I've been tellng people about this movie for years. Spread the word.
Rating:
Summary: Perhaps Heston's finest performance
Review: Even more so than his Oscar-winning turn in BEN-HUR, Charlton Heston's role in the terribly underrated 1968 western WILL PENNY may well be his best ever. Frequently when he's not doing the big-budget historical epics, Heston's performances seem to be much more realistic. WILL PENNY is a case in point.... Aided by a solid script by director Tom Gries, who died too young in 1977, Heston gives a performance of real strength and character, with Hackett (who also died too young) equally fine as the lonely woman having to protect an emotionally fatherless son. WILL PENNY was primarily shot on location in the Owens Valley, at the eastern foot of the Sierra Nevada, during the winter of 1967; and this results in a very cold but still panoramic movie, superbly shot by veteran cameraman Lucien Ballard. For whatever reason, Paramount originally buried it in release in early 1968, choosing to release it simultaneously with the 20th Century Fox film PLANET OF THE APES, another Heston film that got the box office glory. Now, however, WILL PENNY is rightly regarded as a minor classic--and perhaps the real crowning glory in Heston's extremely distinguished acting career.
Rating:
Summary: Near Classic
Review: For sheer realism about the life of the range hand in the mid to late 19th century West this fine film is unsurpassed. It's unfortunate that writer and director Tom Gries didn't realize how good it was and leave out the religious maniac introduced as a contrived villain. It's the only flaw, but a major one. Charlton Heston, Lee Majors, Anthony Zerbe and Joan Hackett are marvelous. Very similar in flavor to "The Wild Rovers," Blake Edwards picture made three years later.
Rating: 
Summary: tom gries misses the target
Review: I can't join the other reviewers in their praise for this movie. Tom Gries attempts, through character development, to present a "thinking man's" movie, but winds up with a s-l-o-o-w moving "entertainment" movie. My take: STORY (2*) This is merely an extended diary of what Will did yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Although the events do have some relevance to each other, they are presented in a slightly dis-jointed fashion that keeps the movie from segueing smoothly from scene to scene. I was also uncomfortable with the finish and it's failure to complete the minor tensions in the plot (ie what will happen to Hackett and her son? How does Ben Johnson's character respond to the events? Has Will Penny retained his honor (most important trait for any western hero?, etc.)) ACTING (2*): Heston carries this film with an understated performance, closely followed by Hackett as the love interest. Johnson is his usual solid self. All others are forced to the point of caricature, particularly Donald Pleasence. The result is an ensemble that I am not emotionally invested in. CINEMATOGRAPHY (3*): I have pan-and-scan, but even in wide screen this is an average presentation from an artistic viewpoint, with very little sense of big-sky. MUSIC (4*): The opening theme is superb western movie music, the rest forgettable. For Heston-Hackett fans, go for it, otherwise not recommended.
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