Hearts of the West (1975)

Director:

Howard Zieff

Writer:

Rob Thompson (written by)

Release Date:

8 October 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Western | Comedy

Tagline:

Jeff Brides is Lewis Tater, the Iowa farmboy who blazed a trail across the barren wastes of Hollywood and Vine in MGM's comedy surprise "Hearts of the West."

Plot:

Lewis Tater writes Wild West dime novels and dreams of actually becoming a cowboy. When he goes west...

Plot Keywords:

Film Industry | Film In Film

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Jeff Bridges	...	Lewis Tater
Andy Griffith	...	Howard Pike
Donald Pleasence	...	A.J. Neitz
Blythe Danner	...	Miss Trout
Alan Arkin	...	Kessler
Richard B. Shull	...	Stout Crook
Herb Edelman	...	Polo (as Herbert Edelman)
Alex Rocco	...	Earl
Frank Cady	...	Pa Tater
Anthony James	...	Lean Crook
Burton Gilliam	...	Lester
Matt Clark	...	Jackson
Candice Azzara	...	Waitress (as Candy Azzara)
Thayer David	...	Bank Manager
Wayne Storm	...	Lyle

Also Known As:

Hollywood Cowboy (UK)

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:14A (Ontario) | UK:PG | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park - 10700 W. Escondido Canyon Rd., Agua Dulce, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Quotes:

Howard Pike: If a person saying he was something was all there was to it, this country'd be full of rich men and good-looking women. Kings and queens... you know what I mean? Too bad it isn't that easy. In short, when someone else says you're a writer, that's when you're a writer... not before.

Movie Connections:

References Anna Christie (1930)

Light hearted, plotless film

I'd give it a rating of about 5 out of 10.

It is different from the usual fare, which is what caused me to give it the 5, rather than a lower number.

It does have some funny moments.

Jeff Bridges is so young in this 1975 film, he barely knew he WAS Jeff Bridges.

Jeff plays a likeable, naive writer from Iowa who is taking a mail order course from what turns out to be a totally fake university; as he discovers when he takes a train out west to 'attend' the school.

From there Jeff gets involved with the scam artists who were running the "university". There's an altercation and the crooks are "after him" trailing him all the way to Hollywood where Jeff's character is now working for a motion picture company.

However, I got tired of it before it finished and didn't even watch the last 20 minutes or so. Just didn't care any more what happened to the characters. It just kind of diddles along too much, without enough plot.