Will Penny

Play trailer

Will Penny

1968,

1h 48m,

Western

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Stream Now

Watchlist

93%

14 Reviews

Tomatometer

75%

1,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

93%

Tomatometer

14 Reviews

75%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

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.

Watch on Fandango

Stream Now

Stream

Rent Will Penny on Fandango, or buy it on Fandango.

Renata Adler

New York Times

May 9, 2005

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.

Go to Full Review

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Oct 23, 2004

3.5/4

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.

Go to Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Jul 11, 2023

3/4

It’s not a lament for a passing way of life as much as it’s a look at the limits enforced by such a lifestyle.

Go to Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

Jul 1, 2023

3/4

'Will Penny' has a lovely, elegiac flow, with supple cinematography by the Lucien Ballard ('The Wild Bunch'), and a focus on character and place.

Go to Full Review

Tracy Moore

Common Sense Media

Sep 30, 2014

4/5

Cowboy character study mixes violence and depth; some peril.

Go to Full Review

Chuck O'Leary

Fantastica Daily

Aug 4, 2005

3/5

Read all reviews

Leia W

Apr 21, 2019

Will Penny is purpose driven.

Draco W

Apr 5, 2018

One of the best classic westerns from the golden era of the genre in my opinion. Charleton Heston is at his epic best in this drama pitting a loner cowboy against His devotion to his job as a line rider and his human instinct to help a beautiful young mother and her son stuck n the mountains trying to get to California. Donald Pleasance does a great job as the crazy self-proclaimed man of the word and his dysfunctional family. A fantastic film well worth an evening with the family or alone.

See more

Harry S

Jun 5, 2017

Beautiful and Sad film. Death of an old way of life.

Read all reviews

Tom Gries

Director

Charlton Heston

Will Penny

Joan Hackett

Catherine Allen

Donald Pleasence

Preacher Quint

Lee Majors

Blue

Bruce Dern

Rafe Quint

The Sugarland Express

87%

58%

The Sugarland Express

Watchlist

TRAILER

for The Sugarland Express

Major Dundee

97%

67%

Major Dundee

Watchlist

Hour of the Gun

88%

50%

Hour of the Gun

Watchlist

Duel at Diablo

60%

Duel at Diablo

Watchlist

100 Things

53%

100 Things

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

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.

Director: Tom Gries
Producer: Fred Engel, Walter Seltzer
Screenwriter: Tom Gries
Production Co: Paramount Pictures
Genre: Western
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 15, 2011
Runtime: 1h 48m

Join The Newsletter

Join The Newsletter

Cookie Settings