Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perhaps Heston's finest performance, August 4, 2001
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.
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22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Heston's best, May 26, 2004
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.
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
3 1/2 Stars - A Frustratingly Good Movie , May 22, 2005
For me, watching Will Penny was a very frustrating experience. The performances of Charlton Heston, Lee Majors, Anthony Zerbe, and Ben Johnson were all quite good - especially Charlton Heston's. The script is excellent in most areas, and the direction & photography are often inspired. What goes wrong with Will Penny is the one part of the script that doesn't work.
The villians of the story are so unbelievable and unrealistic that they seem like they came out of a Western spoof, rather than the serious, realistic Western which Will Penny attempts to be. It's hard to figure just where the heck Donald Pleasance's character is supposed to come from as his accent is all over the place. It's also hard to figure out just how this family of nut-jobs hadn't been killed long before they could encounter Will Penny. They would have either been killed or jailed for their pattern of committing crimes based on their warped religious beliefs. These characters are both written and performed as such over the top crazies that they don't come across as real people, which is in stark contrast to the rest of the characters in the movie. As noted before, it almost seems like they came out of a spoof of a Western movie rather than a serious one.
And that's the shame of the whole thing - if the villians of the movie had been just a little more realistic Will Penny could have easily been one of the best Westerns of the 60's and 70's. As it is Will Penny is still a good movie (great in spots), but because of the way that the villians were scripted (and acted) the movie is brought down a notch or two from what it could have, and should have been.
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