A Heston Favorite
In his memoirs Charlton Heston waxed pretty eloquent about this film, that he considers a personal favorite. He does some of his best work here in a role that's against type.Charlton Heston probably has played more real people on screen than any other actor in history. Everything from Moses to Andrew Jackson to Brigham Young to Henry VIII. All of them are endowed with Heston's peculiar talent to bring a certain nobility to all of them.
Will Penny is just an ordinary aging cowboy from the last century working in Brokeback Mountain country. Nothing noble about him, nothing special unless you count the fact that he does his job, does it well and expects to be paid for same. He's probably the kind of guy that Ennis Delmar and Jack Twist would identify with.
Penny gets himself tangled up with a woman and her small son who've taken refuge in the line rider's cabin he's supposed to be in. And he's also earned the emnity of a murderous family of thieves led by crazy patriarch Donald Pleasance.
Heston in his memoirs paid tribute to his co-star Joan Hackett who he says was a great talent and left us too early. She gives a good performance in her role fighting for herself and her child to survive in a rugged winter.
Look for some realistic western portrayals from veterans like Ben Johnson, G.D. Spradlin, Slim Pickens, Anthony Zerbe, Lee Majors, Bruce Dern, and William Schallert.
Will Penny is very similar to Lee Marvin's classic Monte Walsh. A whole lot of the same issues and problems are portrayed there in the same realistic style.
I'm sure Ennis and Jack would have made it point to see Will Penny back in the day.
score 9/10
bkoganbing 18 February 2006
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1295231/34927
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