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Will Penny Photos

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Movie Info

When aging loner Will Penny (Charlton Heston) is hired to ride the lines around a vast ranch, he stumbles upon Catherine Allen (Joan Hackett) and her son, who are secretly living in an abandoned cabin. Penny gives Catherine and her son a week to move out, but an encounter with some ghosts from his past leaves him wounded and reliant on her. Penny soon finds himself falling for Catherine and becoming a father to her son, but his past continues to haunt him, hurtling him toward a confrontation.

Genre:

western
Original Language:

English
Director:

Tom Gries
Producer:

Fred Engel, Walter Seltzer
Writer:

Tom Gries
Release Date (Streaming):

Aug 10, 2016
Runtime:

1h 48m
Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Cast & Crew

Charlton Heston
Will Penny

Joan Hackett
Catherine Allen

Donald Pleasence
Preacher Quint

Lee Majors
Blue

Bruce Dern
Rafe Quint

Ben Johnson
Alex

Show all Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews for Will Penny

All Critics (13) | Top Critics (2) | Fresh (11) | Rotten (2)

But for one scene too cruel for the story to support, and one scene in which the hero is taught Christmas carols too maudlin to believe, "Will Penny" might have been the best cowboy movie in some time.

May 9, 2005 | Full Review…

Renata Adler
New York Times
Perhaps we should make a distinction between Westerns and cowboy movies, one we can use when a film like Will Penny comes along. This isn't a Western; it's slung too close to the ground for that. But it is the best cowboy movie since Hud.

October 23, 2004 | Rating: 3.5/4 | Full Review…

Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Cowboy character study mixes violence and depth; some peril.

September 30, 2014 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Tracy Moore
Common Sense Media
Quote not available.

August 4, 2005 | Rating: 3/5

Chuck O'Leary
Fantastica Daily
Quote not available.

July 4, 2005 | Rating: 3/5

Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
Heston's best work...and not surprisingly his favorite role.

October 15, 2004 | Rating: 5/5

Steve Crum
Kansas City Kansan
Quote not available.

August 22, 2003 | Rating: 5/5

Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal
3.5

July 18, 2003 | Rating: 3/5

Leonard Klady
Movie City News
Quote not available.

January 9, 2003 | Rating: 1/5

Michael Szymanski
Zap2it.com
Charlton Heston's solid turn in a more life-sized role is the centerpiece of this darkly haunting western.

November 3, 2002 | Rating: 4/5

Dan Lybarger
Kansas City Star
Quote not available.

August 13, 2002 | Rating: 61/100 | Full Review…

Jamie Gillies
Apollo Guide
Quote not available.

July 29, 2002 | Rating: 3/5

Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

View All Critic Reviews (13)

Audience Reviews for Will Penny

Jan 08, 2010

WILL PENNY-Released by Paramount Pictures. Running Time: 112 minutes. MPAA Rating: "M"-Mature Audiences-Parental Guidance Suggested.(For scenes of Western Violence and Strong Language). Released: 1968. -One of the best adult Westerns made to date and one of the more mature Westerns to come out of the 1960's,comes writer-director Tom Gries(who was most known for his television work for TV shows like The Rat Patrol)casts Charlton Heston(in one of the greatest roles in his career,and also he quoted as one of his favorite films)in the title role of a cowboy who patrols for trespassers and rustlers on a huge ranch,who protects two uninvited visitors,a mother and her son from vicious outlaws in 1880's Montana. Gries' son Jon Gries,aka Jon Francis plays the boy while actress Joan Hackett portrays his mother who protects her son from the vicious outlaws(Donald Pleasence, Bruce Dern and Lee Majors). The film was very good in bring a more darker side of ranch life in the Old West. Excellent character study in one of Charlton Heston's best roles.

Mister C Super Reviewer