{"id":31573,"date":"2013-05-23T12:14:50","date_gmt":"2013-05-23T19:14:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=31573"},"modified":"2020-12-28T10:26:25","modified_gmt":"2020-12-28T17:26:25","slug":"hearts-of-the-west-1975","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=31573","title":{"rendered":"Hearts of the West (1975)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;There&#8217;s no such thing as wasted time for the writer; he&#8217;s always thinking.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Hearts-of-the-West-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Hearts-of-the-West-Poster-201x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"201\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-31578\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Hearts-of-the-West-Poster-201x300.jpg 201w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Hearts-of-the-West-Poster-85x128.jpg 85w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Hearts-of-the-West-Poster.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 201px) 100vw, 201px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nAn aspiring western writer (Jeff Bridges) accidentally steals money from a pair of crooks (Richard B. Shull and Anthony James) running a sham correspondence school in Nevada, and escapes to Hollywood, where he finds work as an actor for a skinflint producer (Alan Arkin), falls for a pretty script girl (Blythe Danner), and receives advice from a grizzled performer (Andy Griffith).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Alan Arkin Films<\/li>\n<li>Andy Griffith Films<\/li>\n<li>Blythe Danner Films<\/li>\n<li>Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Con-Artists<\/li>\n<li>Donald Pleasence Films<\/li>\n<li>Historical Drama<\/li>\n<li>Hollywood<\/li>\n<li>Jeff Bridges Films<\/li>\n<li>Westerns<\/li>\n<li>Writers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nThis humorous tale of an innocent Iowa farmboy fleeing from the clutches of villainous crooks and landing smack-dab in the middle of Depression-Era Hollywood remains a hidden treasure, one film fanatics will be pleased to discover. Bridges&#8217; &#8220;Lewis Tater&#8221; is eminently likable: we care about his travails from the moment we first see him acting out a western scene playing in his head, and talking earnestly to whoever will listen about the craft of writing. He refuses to let any obstacles get in his way, instead viewing whatever happens to him &#8212; and my, quite a bit happens! &#8212; as welcome fodder for his prose. Director Howard Zieff and screenwriter Rob Thompson affectionately evoke the milieu of &#8217;30s Western matinees, taking us behind the scenes to expose the business side of this kiddie-fantasy world, complete with both fond camaraderie and bitter bargaining. All supporting actors on board &#8212; Arkin, Danner, Griffith, and others &#8212; give fine performances, rounding out this consistently enjoyable coming-of-age tale, which never takes itself too seriously (viz. the comedic omnipresence of Shull and James, complete with their own theme music), yet maintains an unexpected level of poignancy throughout. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Jeff Bridges as Lewis Tater<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Hearts-of-the-West-Bridges.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Hearts-of-the-West-Bridges.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-31575\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Hearts-of-the-West-Bridges.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Hearts-of-the-West-Bridges-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Hearts-of-the-West-Bridges-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Andy Griffith as Howard Pike<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Hearts-of-the-West-Griffith.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Hearts-of-the-West-Griffith.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-31576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Hearts-of-the-West-Griffith.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Hearts-of-the-West-Griffith-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Hearts-of-the-West-Griffith-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>A fun look at film-making in old (young?) Hollywood<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Hearts-of-the-West-Old-Hollywood.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Hearts-of-the-West-Old-Hollywood.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-31577\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Hearts-of-the-West-Old-Hollywood.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Hearts-of-the-West-Old-Hollywood-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Hearts-of-the-West-Old-Hollywood-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Excellent period sets<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Hearts-of-the-West-Sets.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Hearts-of-the-West-Sets.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-31574\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Hearts-of-the-West-Sets.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Hearts-of-the-West-Sets-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Hearts-of-the-West-Sets-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Rob Thompson&#8217;s smart, affectionate screenplay\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes. Listed as a Sleeper in the back of Peary&#8217;s book &#8212; a perfect designation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Good Show<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0073096\/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"movies.nytimes.com\/movie\/review?res=9904E5DE1139E63BBC4C53DFB667838E669EDE\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s3609west.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/3611\/hearts-of-the-west#articles-reviews?articleId=74641\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/london\/film\/hearts-of-the-west\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s no such thing as wasted time for the writer; he&#8217;s always thinking.&#8221; Synopsis: An aspiring western writer (Jeff Bridges) accidentally steals money from a pair of crooks (Richard B. Shull and Anthony James) running a sham correspondence school in Nevada, and escapes to Hollywood, where he finds work as an actor for a skinflint producer (Alan Arkin), falls for a pretty script girl (Blythe Danner), and receives advice from a grizzled performer (Andy Griffith). Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=31573\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31573"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60192,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31573\/revisions\/60192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}