Hearts of the West

Hearts of the West, released in Europe as Hollywood Cowboy, is a 1975 comedy film directed by Howard Zieff, and starring Jeff Bridges, Andy Griffith, Blythe Danner, and Alan Arkin. The story revolves around a wannabe 1930s writer who finds himself cast as a leading man in several Bmovie westerns.

Lewis Tater Jeff Bridges, a 1930sera aspiring novelist who harbors dreams of becoming the next Zane Grey, decides to leave his family home in Iowa to go to the University of Titan in Nevada so he can soak up the western atmosphere. He arrives to find that there is no university, only a mail order correspondence course scam run by two crooks out of the local hotel. He tries to spend the night at the hotel, and is attacked by one of the men. He escapes his attacker and steals their car, pulling over when it runs out of gas.He wanders through the desert and happens upon a threadbare filmunit grinding out B westerns called Tumbleweed Productions. He catches a lift with the cowboy actors to Los Angeles. After applying at Tumbleweed, he is referred by crusty old extra Howard Pike Andy Griffith to the Rio, a westernthemed restaurant. While washing dishes at the Rio, he is called by Tumbleweed, where Howard mentors him to be an actor. After proving himself as a stuntman, unit manager Kessler Alan Arkin offers him a speaking role. Tater then falls in love with spunky script girl Miss Trout Blythe Danner. Meanwhile, the crooks trace him to Los Angeles to retrieve the safebox containing their money that was in the car stolen by Lewis. ........

Source: Wikipedia