Heartland is a 1979 American film, directed by Richard Pearce,^[2] starring Rip Torn and Conchata Ferrell.^[3] The film is a stark depiction of early homestead life in the American West. It is based on a memoir by Elinore Pruitt Stewart, titled Letters of a Woman Homesteader (1914).^[4]

In 1910 Wyoming, Elinor, a widow, and her seven-year old daughter Jerrine travel by train to a remote Montana ranch where Elinor has a job working as a housekeeper for Clyde Stewart, a reserved Scottish rancher.^[5][6] The ranch is a lonely place and the only other woman nearby is an elderly German widow, Mrs. Landauer.

After seeing the beauty of the Montana countryside, Elinor becomes determined to file a claim; however, she can not afford to build a house on her new land. Clyde agrees to build her a house if she marries him. The new family faces hardship during the winter when they run low on money and hay for the animals. Elinor becomes pregnant and gives birth to a baby boy. However, he dies of a fever several weeks later. By the end of the winter, Clyde has lost half of his herd. Elinor refuses to give up and they decide to stay and rebuild the herd.

Set in southwestern Wyoming, where Stewart homesteaded, the movie was filmed in central Montana.^[7]

The soundtrack features New Orleans clarinetist George Lewis playing the hymn "What a Friend We Have in Jesus."^[8]

In 1980, the film was featured as a "Buried Treasure" (a film that received little attention during its initial run)^[9] by film critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel on an episode of the TV show, Sneak Previews, (the latter rated the film as one of the best films of 1981).^[10]

• Rip Torn as Clyde Stewart
• Conchata Ferrell as Elinore Randall Stewart
• Barry Primus as Jack
• Megan Folsom as Jerrine
• Lilia Skala as Mrs. Landauer
• Amy Wright as Clara Jane
• Jerry Hardin as Cattlebuyer
• Mary Boylan as Ma Gillis
• Jeff Boschee as Land Office Agent #1
• Robert Overholzer as Land Office Agent #2
• Bob Sirucek as Dan Byrd
• Marvin Berg as Justice of the Peace
• Gary Voldseth as Cowboy
• Mike Robertson as Cowboy
• Doug Johnson as Cowboy

In 1980, the film shared the Golden Bear award for Best Film at the 30th Berlin International Film Festival,^[11] and one year later on the Top Ten Films from National Board of Review alongside cinematic heavyweights like Academy Award for Best Picture winner Chariots of Fire and the Steven Spielberg blockbuster Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.

• Elinore Pruitt Stewart Homestead, Wyoming, listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
• American Midwest
• Days of Heaven, the 1978 Terrence Malick film similar in content