Will Penny (1967)

Charlton Heston is Will Penny, an aging cowhand who rides off at the end of a trail drive looking for a drink of whiskey and his next job.

He and friends Blue (Lee Majors) and Dutchy (Anthony Zerbe) come across a bull elk that looks like it’d make for a tasty meal.

But a dispute breaks out over the animal with a rag-tag family approaching from across the river. Soon, gunfire rings out.

Dutchy is wounded — perhaps by his own bullet. And a son of Preacher Quint (Donald Pleasance) is dead by the river bank. The preacher vows vengeance.

Penny eventually parts from his friends after getting Dutchy to a doctor.

He finds a new job too, manning a line camp for the winter for the Flat Iron ranch.

But he finds his cabin already inhabited by Catherine Allen (Joan Hackett) and her son Horace. They’ve been abandoned by the guide leading them to California where Catherine’s husband has a farm.

Nesters are prohibited on the Flat Iron range, so Will orders them off the property. He wants them gone by the time he returns from checking out the range he’ll be patrolling for the winter.

That’s when Preacher Quint returns with his two remaining sons. By the time they’re done with Will, he’s stabbed, burned, beaten, bleeding and left for dead.

He manages to make it back to the line camp where Catherine nurses him back to health. Over time, he becomes fond of her and her son.

He and Catherine begin re-examining their futures too. Catherine faces one with an unloving husband. Will faces one of endless drifting.

But they won’t have a future if Preacher Quint learns that Will is still alive.

Charlton Heston as Will Penny, discussing the future with Catherine Allen in Will Penny (1967)

Joan Hackett as Catherine Allen, the woman who finds herself hoping for a brighter future in Will Penny (1967)

Review:

A very well done Western that comes off as much more realistic than most. At one point, Will Penny even takes Catherine’s son cow chip hunting so there’s enough fuel to heat their cabin for the winter.

Heston’s Will Penny is anything but the romantic version of a cowboy. He bathes eight or nine times a year. He beds a woman occasionally when he gets to town.

If he’s drunk, he’ll let a wounded friend lie in a wagon bed, suffering in the cold, then place a bet on how long that friend will live.

But his encounter with Catherine awakens a yearning for a place to call home, and a yearning to take a young boy under his wing and teach him what he knows about surviving in a harsh West.

Donald Pleasance plays the role of crazed Preacher Quint with gusto. Bruce Dern and Gene Rutherford play the Quint brothers; Preacher wants Catherine to decide which one to “take up with.”

And Jon Gries — the director’s son, using the name Jon Francis — plays Catherine’s boy.

Donald Pleasance as Preacher Quint, spying on Will Penny with revenge on his mind in Will Penny (1967)

Bruce Den as Rafe Quint, one of Preacher Quint’s sons in Will Penny (1967)

Directed by:
Tom Gries

Cast:
Charlton Heston … WIll Penny
Joan Hackett … Catherine Allen
Donald Pleasance … Preacher Quint
Lee Majors … Blue
Bruce Dern … Rafe Quint
Ben Johnson … Alex
Slim Pickens … Ike Walterstein
Clifton James … Catron
Anthony Zerbe … Dutchy
Roy Jenson … Boetius Sullivan
G.D. Spradlin … Anse Howard
Quentin Dean … Jennie
William Schallert … Dr. Fraker
Lydia Clarke … Mrs. Fraker
Robert Luster … Shem Bodinehe
Dal Jenkins … Sambo
Matt Clark … Romulus Quint
Gene Rutherford … Rufus Quint
Luke Askew … Foxy
Anthony Costello … Bigfoot
Chanin Hale … Girl
Jon Gries … Horace, aka “Button:
as Jon Francis

Runtime: 108 min.

Lee Majors as Blue, a fellow cowboy who has befriended Will Penny in Will Penny (1967)

Anthony Zerbe as Dutchy, wounded during the encounter with Preacher Quint and his sons in Will Penny (1967)

Memorable lines:

Preacher Quint, after one of his sons is killed: “Life for life. Eye for eye. Tooth for tooth. Burning for burning. Wound for wound. Strife for strife. Who sheddeth man’s blood, that man shall his blood be shed. You ain’t seen the last of me!”

Dutchy, gunshot: “Will, I’d like to have a sure drink here better than a maybe drink later on.”

Will Penny, after Blue samples his drink: “How’s she taste?”
Blue: “Don’t know. But she sure burns a dollar’s worth.”

Ben Johnson as Alex, foreman of the Flat Iron Ranch, confronting Will about strangers in his cabin in Will Penny (1967)

Jon Gries (Jon Francis) as Horace, Catherine’s son, on the watch for Will in Will Penny (1967)

Doctor as Blue and Will unloaded a wounded Dutchy: “He smells like a still. What did you do? Stop on the way to celebrate?”

Alex, ranch foreman, upon hiring Will: “Now, about the pilgrims that come through. As long as they keep moving, fine. And if they take a beef now and then, you don’t do much about that either. But you don’t let nobody stop. That’s the most important thing. Nobody stops on Flat Iron range.”
Will Penny: “What if they don’t move.”
Alex: “They’ll move alright. Won’t nobody say anything about it either.”

Will Penny: “No self-respecting cowhand would be caught dead milking a cow?”
Catherine Allen: “I won’t tell anybody about it.”

Donald Pleasance as Preacher Quint encouraging Catherine Allen (Joan Hackett) to chose between his sons in Will Penny (1967)

Charlton Heston as Will Penny, contemplating what’s next at the end of a cattle drive in Will Penny (1967)

Quentin Dean as Jennie, the girl who travels with Preacher Quint and his sons in Will Penny (1967)

Gene Rutherford as Rufus Quint, one of the preacher’s sons, mourning the loss of a brother in Will Penny (1967)

G.D. Spradlin as Anse Howard, the man whose herd Will helps drive to market in Will Penny (1967)

Slim Pickens as Ike Walterstein, cook on the cattle drive in Will Penny (1967)

Joan Hackett as Catherine Allen, prepared to defend herself and son Horace (Jon Gries) in Will Penny (1967)

Charlton Heston as Will Penny, forced to confront a half-mad, vengeance seeking man who calls himself Preacher in Will Penny (1967)