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Will Penny

Will Penny

Western · Romance · 1967

Will Penny, an aging cowpoke, takes a job on a ranch which requires him to ride the line of the property looking for trespassers or, worse, squatters. He finds that his cabin in the high mountains has been appropriated by a woman whose guide to Oregon has deserted her and her son. Too ashamed to kick mother and child out just as the bitter winter of the mountains sets in, he agrees to share the cabin until the spring thaw. But it isn't just the snow that slowly thaws; the lonely man and woman soon forget their mutual hostility and start developing a deep love for one another.

Movie details

Will Penny

“He was a peaceful man. But he could kill! He was a hard man. But he could smile! He was a shy and lonely man. But he could love!”

1967 Western · Romance 1h 50m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

7.0 / 10

5.6K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

93 %

Tomatometer

TMDB

6.7 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

Will Penny, an aging cowpoke, takes a job on a ranch which requires him to ride the line of the property looking for trespassers or, worse, squatters. He finds that his cabin in the high mountains has been appropriated by a woman whose guide to Oregon has deserted her and her son. Too ashamed to kick mother and child out just as the bitter winter of the mountains sets in, he agrees to share the cabin until the spring thaw. But it isn't just the snow that slowly thaws; the lonely man and woman soon forget their mutual hostility and start developing a deep love for one another.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Will Penny?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Yellow Sky

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Tom Gries

Written by

Tom Gries

Charlton Heston

Charlton Heston

Will Penny

Joan Hackett

Joan Hackett

Catherine Allen

Donald Pleasence

Donald Pleasence

Preacher Quint

Lee Majors

Lee Majors

Blue

Bruce Dern

Bruce Dern

Rafe Quint

Ben Johnson

Ben Johnson

Alex

Slim Pickens

Slim Pickens

Ike Wallerstein

Court is in session

Put Will Penny on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.