Hollywood Cow-Boy

source: Hearts of the West

Trailer—Hearts of the West

Hearts of the West

I saw this movie years ago but didn't catch the title at the time. It took several years to locate the title and to see it again. I thought this was a very funny and well done movie. Lewis Tater has has an innocent enthusiasm that makes him instantly likable. His Overacting in the gunfighter scenes and cracking the invisible whip in the lobby of the boarding house were hilarious. It reminded me of Myself in my younger years. This movie is loaded with fun and there is a certain nostalgic atmosphere about it that just leaves you smiling. Very underrated movie. For a just plain feel good fun movie I highly recommend it.

Jeff Bridges portrayal of the innocent Lewis Tater combined with the slick performances of Alan Arkin and Andy Griffith make Hearts of the West a true Homage to the Republic pictures style of westerns Also keep an eye out for the sultry performance of Blythe Danner as Tater's love interest.

I really love this movie. I saw it in the theaters when it first came out and recommended it to everybody I knew. Somewhere in my house is a bad VHS copy of it but I haven't seen it in a million years and it's not available on Netflix. If it gets released again on DVD I would recommend it - I'll bet it hasn't dated or aged one bit. Wonderful wonderful movie. How do you campaign to get a movie re-released on DVD? This film has everything, a beautiful young Jeff Bridges, a typical excellent Alan Arkin performance, Blythe Danner! who should have been a much bigger movie star, hilarious script.

In "Hearts of the West" Jeff Bridges is an aspiring western pulp-novel writer. He worships Zane Grey and lands what is for him a fantasy-come-true job as a stunt man in Hollywood B-westerns in the 1930s. There he works with a crew of losers under Alan Arkin. Bridges has some good comic stunts and spends much of the time eluding con-men pursuers. Andy Griffith all but steals the show as a wily former star who first befriends him and then cheats him. Blythe Danner is good as the female production manager who takes a liking to Bridges. Howard Zieff, recalled for his "Slither," directed this very likable piece.

This is one of the best of 1975 without a lot of heavy issues. It's about innocence and the American Dream with the perfect guy in the lead - a young Jeff Bridges. Alan Arkin is the perfect uptight East Coast director in Hollywood and the lovely Blythe Danner shows qualities that her daughter became famous for. Zieff's film Slither with James Caan is also very much underrated. Andy Griffith is well-cast for only the second time (A Face in the Crowd being the other) and Donald Pleasance is an added treasure, all too briefly. If you're in a normal mood this is the movie for you. A definite 8 out of 10 and nobody's seen it.