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.
Acting
Heston's career-best—craggy, wounded, shockingly tender.
Cinematography
Snow-capped peaks that feel as lonely as Will himself.
Writing
Dialogue so sparse you'll hang on every grunted syllable.
Director
Tom Gries
Charlton Heston
Will Penny
Joan Hackett
Catherine Allen
Donald Pleasence
Preacher Quint
Lee Majors
Blue
Bruce Dern
Rafe Quint
Ben Johnson
Alex
Slim Pickens
Ike Wallerstein
Clifton James
Catron
Anthony Zerbe
Dutchy
Roy Jenson
Boetius Sullivan
G.D. Spradlin
Anse Howard
Quentin Dean
Jennie
William Schallert
Dr. Fraker
Lydia Clarke
Mrs. Fraker
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Heston called this his favorite of his own films and kept the final shooting script until his death.
The 1967 release made it a western for the Vietnam era—questioning cowboy mythos just as America questioned its own.
US
