Review: Will Penny

Charlton Heston is an aging, solitary cowhand left for dead when beset upon by loony ‘preacher’ Quint (Donald Pleasence- having a high old-time as usual) and his equally sadistic sons (the well-cast Bruce Dern and character actor Matt Clark among the clan). He has accepted a job from taciturn Ben Johnson, throwing squatters off ranch property, and Joan Hackett is the gun-toting squatter (with a son, played by Jonathan Gries, son of the director) who takes him in, nurses him back to health, and teaches him a thing or two about life outside of being a cowboy. Anthony Zerbe and Lee Majors are Heston’s trail companions, the former playing a European-accented veteran, and the latter the more green cowhand. Clifton James plays an insensitive but well-meaning rancher who early on allows Heston to bring in a wounded comrade, whose forecast is cloudy.

It’s funny, I had already written a review of this 1968 Tom Gries (“100 Rifles”, “Breakout”, “The Greatest”) western, but although my overall rating for the film would be completely unchanged, watching the film again I feel like I had seen a different film this time around in at least one major respect. So I figured I’d write another review to replace my now outdated thoughts on the film.

I still agree with my original view that Donald Pleasence couldn’t do an American accent to save himself but last time I felt that he set the tone ajar towards the end with some histrionic acting. I no longer feel this way, and he certainly makes an immediate, creepy impression. He’s angry, vengeful, completely nucking futs. Let’s face it, you don’t hire Donald Pleasence if you want subtlety do you? He and a young Bruce Dern are good at what they do, though I bet Mr. Charlton Heston found them a little irritating on set (Pleasence being a well-known scenery chewer). They’re in the film a lot more than I remember from my last viewing, so I actually don’t think they unsettle the film’s tone at all. There’s something a little “Straw Dogs” or “Last House on the Left” about these characters and the final third of the film, albeit obviously tamer (there’s a little of the more recent “The Revenant” to the film too) but it doesn’t jar.

Charlton Heston, normally cast as virtual super manly men of God-like stature gives a really solid, understated performance as a mere mortal for a change. This guy is fairly modest and doesn’t get the job done on his own. I might argue that it’s more of a Gregory Peck role than a Charlton Heston role, but it might be more impressive that Heston does it so well anyway. He apparently often said it was his favourite film among those he made, so it’s a bit of a shame it wasn’t a box-office hit. Perhaps audiences at the time preferred to see him in his more epic roles or kissing apes, and I say that as someone whose favourite Heston film is indeed “Planet of the Apes”. Joan Hackett (who, unlike Pleasence, isn’t in the film as much as I seemed to recall) and Lee Majors are perfectly fine in support, but it’s a shame that a very large supporting cast end up mostly confined to the first third of the film. I personally would’ve liked more scenes with Ben Johnson, Roy Jenson, Anthony Zerbe, and Slim Pickens. I can’t complain much about what we do get here, though. In fact, in their few scenes Anthony Zerbe and Roy Jenson (looking to get punched hard) do manage to stand out. Also giving a fun performance is Clifton James perfectly cast as a well-meaning hog farmer with too big a mouth for someone who clearly has shit for brains. The music score by David Raksin (“Kind Lady”, “The Bad and the Beautiful”, “Jubal”) is rather good too.

Scripted by the director, this is not a great film, but I can see why a lot of critics in particular love it. It’s no mere shoot ‘em up western and is very solid, though it probably helps if you’re a Joan Hackett fan. As much as I liked “Breakout”, this is probably director Gries’ best film.

Rating: B-