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With: Charlton Heston, Joan Hackett, Donald Pleasence, Lee Majors, Bruce Dern, Ben Johnson, Slim Pickens, Clifton James, Anthony Zerbe, Roy Jenson, G.D. Spradlin, Quentin Dean, William Schallert, Lydia Clarke, Robert Luster, Dal Jenkins, Matt Clark, Luke Askew, Anthony Costello, Gene Rutherford, Chanin Hale, Jon Gries, Stephen Edwards
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Written by: Tom Gries
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Directed by: Tom Gries
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MPAA Rating: NR
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Running Time: 108
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Date: 02/16/1968
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Horse Cents
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
This low-key, laconic Western concerns a forty-something cattle-puncher, Will Penny (Charlton Heston), who has been on the job most of his life. At the end of a drive, Will and two partners, Blue (Lee Majors, in his film debut), and Dutchy (Anthony Zerbe), run into a little trouble over who shot an elk, and wind up angering the vengeful Preacher Quint (Donald Pleasence), who chants Biblical threats. Will lands a winter job on a ranch, and discovers a woman, Catherine (Joan Hackett) and her young son, Horace (Jon Gries, the son of director Tom Gries), inside the Line Shack. He tells them to skedaddle, but of course, they all end up spending the winter together, including celebrating a brief but lovely Christmas, before the preacher shows up again, his grinning progeny (Bruce Dern) in tow. Will Penny has a lovely, elegiac flow, with supple cinematography by the Lucien Ballard (The Wild Bunch), and a focus on character and place. Slim Pickens, Ben Johnson, and G. D. Spradlin are also among the great cast.
In 2023, Kino Lorber released a Blu-ray edition, and the video transfer is as sharp as I've ever seen, and the audio matches. English subtitles are available. Bonus features include a commentary track by script supervisor Michael Preece, author/screenwriter C. Courtney Joyner, and film historian Henry Parke. There are two short featurettes with Heston and Gries, and trailers for this film and four other Westerns. Recommended.
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