Charlton Heston plays the title character, an aging cowboy who finds himself broke, so accepts a job as a lineman on a cattle ranch. On a routine run, he discovers a young mother and her son, who have(unknowingly) taken shelter in his cabin. Rather than throw them out, he lets them stay, and finds himself slowly falling in love with her, though this romance is threatened by the arrival of a homicidal preacher and his lecherous sons, who had previously attacked Will and left him for dead. Will resolves to get rid of these lunatics, once and for all...
Heston is excellent as Penny, a man who let a traditional family life slip him by and knows it, but feels too old to change. Donald Pleasance is quite menacing as the crazy preacher, though that subplot does throw some of the carefully established dramatic flow off balance on their return. Still, Tom Gries does an admirable job with character and atmosphere in this solid western.
Heston is excellent as Penny, a man who let a traditional family life slip him by and knows it, but feels too old to change. Donald Pleasance is quite menacing as the crazy preacher, though that subplot does throw some of the carefully established dramatic flow off balance on their return. Still, Tom Gries does an admirable job with character and atmosphere in this solid western.