Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Forgotten Movies: Will Penny




Will Penny (Charleston Heston) plays a man hired to police another man's land. Joan Hackett plays a woman squatting in the cabin he's provided with. Great cast, great scenery in a classic Western. Loved Hackett. She died too young.

Sorry to be brief, but still wrestling with this cold. For more forgotten movies, check with Todd Mason.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

We loved Will Penny - saw it when it first came out in 1968 but I don't think I've seen it since. I agree on the late Joan Hacket, a wonderful actress. She was terrific in another of my favorites, SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF, opposite James Garner.

Jeff M.

pattinase (abbott) said...

She was so vital, believable and intense in any role. Most of them on TV.

Charles Gramlich said...

I did see this one, wonder of wonders. Thoguht it was pretty good. great character.

Todd Mason said...

And I suspect Eastwood wanted to throw in a reference to this in UNFORGIVEN, given that the nameless gunfighter is there named Will Munny (iirc...got my own weather I'm under at the moment, so, sympathies).

wv: hamliti (it has that delicious mournful Danish flavor)

iluvcinema said...

Ooh I know this one. Saw only part of it though ...

Ron Scheer said...

I put off seeing this for a long time because I'm not a big fan of Heston. But he surprised the heck out of me. It's one of my top-10 westerns. Very realistic in its portrayal of a cowboy's lot.

Erik Donald France said...

Cool, another '68er ~~ will check it out~!

Deb said...

Joan Hackett played a certain type of nervousness perfectly. I loved her in "The Group." She did indeed die far too young.

Although I'm not a huge Charlton Heston fan, in the late sixties/early seventies he starred in a string of interesting movies like "Will Penny," "The Omega Man," "Soylent Green," "Planet of the Apes," etc.

Richard Moore said...

"Will Penny" is one of my favorite westerns and one of Heston's best roles. He loved the script and as he was able to do at that time was very involved in every aspect of the production.

As he explained in his published journals THE ACTOR'S LIFE, and his autobiography IN THE ARENA (both very interesting reads), the woman's part in Will Penny was very difficult to cast. The studio pushed Lee Remick, which Heston reluctantly agreed to. Then she turned down the part.

So did Eva Marie Saint and Jean Simons.

In Heston's journal for January 16, 1967 he wrote "I guess the part doesn't seem good enough (or glamorous enough?) to attract a name, which surprises me; the quality of the script and the role seems so clear to me. They're wrong."

Ten years later when the journals were published, he added "They were too (wrong). This was one of the best women's parts of that year. At least that year. In the end, it worked out for the best. Joan Hackett, who accepted the part soon after, couldn't have been bettered."

pattinase (abbott) said...

I can imagine Lee Remick being good in it but in a less earthy way. The other two seem wrong.

Yvette said...

Great choice, Patti.

Joan Hackett who was a wonderful actress (and died much too young) was also one of the more beautiful women in films.

She was unique.

I too liked this movie and thought Charlton Heston was terrific. It's too bad he basically ruined his reputation with all that NRA malarkey near the end of his career.

But I choose to remember his great film roles and shrug off the rest.