Will Penny **** (1968, Charlton Heston, Joan Hackett, Donald Pleasence, Lee Majors, Bruce Dern, Anthony Zerbe, Clifton James, Ben Johnson, William Schallert, Slim Pickens, G D Spradlin) – Classic Movie Review 4535

Co-producer/ writer/ director Tom Gries’s intensely burning 1968 Western is excellent, with a quietly powerful story about Charlton Heston’s aging, saddle-sore cowboy Will Penny, who gets a job on a large cattle spread and finds his isolated cabin is already occupied by single mom Catherine Allen (Joan Hackett) and her young son. So there is nothing for it but for Will to romance Catherine – but is menaced by a wild bunch of vicious villains.

It is led by outstanding, attention-grabbing acting from the stars – Heston is tight-lipped and effective and it is probably Hackett’s best film opportunity ever – and by the showily impressive co-star support performances from Donald Pleasence and Bruce Dern as the lip-smacking bad guys Preacher Quint and Rafe Quint.

And there is a remarkable gallery of old-time character actors to relish – including Lee Majors, Anthony Zerbe, Clifton James, Ben Johnson, William Schallert, Slim Pickens, Roy Jenson and G D Spradlin, as well as Quentin Dean, Lydia Clarke and Robert Luster.

Gries achieves an unusually effective re-creation of the tough life of the Old West, in particular the hard winter existence in the Rockies, beautifully photographed by Lucien Ballard.

The movie ends up as a real credit to writer-director Gries, as well as its gallery of much loved actors.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4535

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