Hearts of the West (1975): Cast & Plot

Lewis Tater, Jeff Bridges, is a 1933-born aspiring novelist who dreams of becoming the next Zane Grey. He leaves his Iowa home to head to the University of Titan in Nevada, hoping the desert will infuse his writing with true western atmosphere. But the trip quickly reveals a gritty miscalculation: there is no real university, only a mail-order correspondence course scam run by two crooks holed up in a rundown hotel. A botched attempt at a robbery leaves him battered, alone, and with his suitcase and a stolen car keying his escape. The car sputters to a stop, and fear drives him to abandon the vehicle in the vast desert, clutching a toolbox packed with a revolver and ammunition.