Will Penny

directed by Tom Gries
Category: "Western"
Year of Release:1968
Date Added:03/21/2009
Date Watched:03/20/2009
Description:Will Penny (Charlton Heston) is a drifting, aging cowboy. When two of his friends are ambushed by a crazed preacher and his sons, Penny fights back and kills one of the sons. The preacher vows his revenge. Penny takes a winter job herding cattle on a remote range. He discovers Catherine (Joan Hackett) and her son squatting in his cabin. He gives them a week to leave and goes off to herd the cattle. He's waylaid by the preacher and his sons, beaten and left for dead. Penny struggles back to the cabin and is nursed by Catherine. As the winter progresses, the two fall for each other. The preacher shows up on Christmas. They force Penny to work for them and force Catherine to choose one of the two remainins sons as a husband. Just before she has to make her final decision, Penny's two cowboy friends show up. The preacher and his sons are killed. Catherine asks Penny to stay with her, but he says he's too old, to ignorant and too set in his ways, and he takes off with his friends.
My Rating:7

Reviews for Will Penny

Review - Will Penny

Heston isn't a hero — he's just a cowboy. But in a few places in the movie, he's called upon to act the hero and it was surprising to see him fail at other times. The end was sad — I was rooting for Penny and Catherine — but it was realistic. There were a lot of recognizable actors in the movie, and it kept my interest, but somehow stopped just short of being great.

Reviewed by Roger on 2009-03-21 09:58:18

Back to the list