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Better Late Then Never

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The plot is a little loose-limbed and meandering but it's an affectionate and amusing look at Povery Row studios, also known as Gower Gulch, that ground out cheap Western movies to be shown as second features. If you've seen a John Wayne Western from the 1930s you'll know what they look like. Wayne, on a white horse, racing after a pick up truck, dashing past the telephone poles, in the Old West.Jeff Bridges is Lewis Tater, an aspiring writer of Western stories who comes to Hollywood from Iowa armed with a diploma from a phony writing correspondence school. Throughout the movie he is pursued by two villains connected with the scam who want money from him.Meanwhile, nearly broke, he manages to stumble into a role as an extra in these cheap Westerns made by a studio -- Shoot 'Em Up Productions, or something -- that is run by the penny-pinching Alan Arkin, who gives a splendid performance. Bridges is adequate as the kid consumed by his fantasies. Blythe Danner, with her hoarse voice sometimes ending in a squeak, is skinny, sexy, and grounded. Andy Griffith is fine as the extra who acts as Bridges' mentor and who is later revealed as a fraud who tries to steal the manuscript of Bridges' Western novel.Except for the two stereotypical villains -- Richard Schull and Anthony James -- who are mostly comic figures, it's hard to dislike any character in this fey atmosphere. It's 1933 and the location shooting and set dressing make Los Angeles far more attractive than it is today, now that it is a tangled snare of freeways with colorless settlements in between them. The musical score uses a lot of source music -- cheerfully and not in-your-face obvious. The sun seems to be shining all the way through, even when it's raining. It's charming when the disingenuous Bridges stands on the beach of a rich producer's house, gazes Westward, and remarks in awe to himself -- "The vast Pacific."

"Hearts of the West" opens by suggesting Iowan "farm boy" Jeff Bridges (as Lewis Tater) wants to be a Hollywood western star, then he tells his family he's going to a Nevada writers' correspondence school. He wants to be another Zane Grey. The "University of Titan" turns out to be a scam, and Mr. Bridges quickly lands in Los Angeles. He gets extra work and a shot at movie stardom after washing dishes. Helping out and sometimes not, is "B western" player Andy Griffith (as Howard Pike). Providing feminine companionship is script girl Blythe Danner (as Miss Trout). Others characters come and go...Bridges is convincing as an early talking pictures western actor; however he combs his hair, it looks terrific. The film benefits from familiar character actors. Winning the "New York Film Critics" supporting actor award for the year is "director" Alan Arkin (as Bert Kessler). A wall advertisement next to the "Rio Cafe" heralds Garbo Talks! in "Anna Christie" (1930), though MGM would have more likely painted it for a 1960s reissue. The setting can be taken right up to the "present" 1970s black-and-red typewriter ribbon Bridges uses. He smartly switches to an all-black ribbon for a letter dated "August 4, 1933".***** Hearts of the West (10/4/75) Howard Zieff ~ Jeff Bridges, Andy Griffith, Blythe Danner, Alan Arkin

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.

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.