Old movie stars don't die, they just fade into television. That's been true since the 1960s. Henry Fonda and Jimmy Stewart both transitioned to the small screen with less than memorable results. It was even worse for Fred MacMurray. "My Three Sons" was so successful that his stellar work in classics like "Double Indemnity" and "The Apartment" tends to be overlooked.
Times have changed. Thanks to better TV scripts — and few juicy movie roles that don't require slipping into a superhero costume — actors are more comfortable bouncing back and forth between TV and films.
No one knows that better than writer/director Taylor Sheridan. His new Paramount+ series "Tulsa King" gives Sylvester Stallone the rare chance to be funny (on purpose). "Yellowstone," now in its fifth blockbuster season, has revived Kevin Costner's career.
Now it's Harrison Ford's turn. "1923," a "Yellowstone prequel also streaming on Paramount+, features one of the biggest film names of the past 50 years as Jacob Dutton, a true-grit cattleman battling drought, locusts, the Great Depression and pesky shepherds who have no idea that they're annoying the former Han Solo.
Like Costner's character, Dutton behaves like a fair man, until you threaten his empire. Then the fangs come out. But in this case, his enemies don't seem too rattled — and for good reason.
For perhaps the first time in his career, Ford looks every bit of his 80 years. When he walks through town, you wonder where he left his cane. His tone is so cranky that you keep waiting for him to tell the young cowpokes to get off his lawn.
But it's too early to write him off. Truth is, he doesn't have much to do in the premiere episode.
The best scenes belong to Helen Mirren, who first co-starred with Ford way back in 1986's "The Mosquito Coast." This time, she's his wife, Cara Dutton. Her speech in which she counsels a soon-to-be bride on the pluses and minuses of being a cowboy's wife shows why she's won four Emmys and an Oscar.
Most of the action scenes are handled by Brandon Sklenar. He plays Jacob's nephew Spencer, who is dealing with the traumatic experiences during World War I by sentencing himself to a death-defying job in Africa, hunting big game that threatens villagers. Sklenar is so fearless that his scenes could be an audition to be the next Indiana Jones.
But the real stars throughout are guns.
In the first hour, written by Sheridan and directed by Ben Richardson, Spencer blasts a charging lion, Cara executes an enemy at close range, Jacob punctuates an argument by jamming a pistol under his opponent's jaw, and a sheriff ends a raucous council meeting by shooting into the air.
Guns are a Western staple, but they work best when handled by compelling, complex characters with unshakable ethics.
See Sam Elliott in "1883," the other "Yellowstone" prequel. He's just two years younger than Ford, but he's hit the jackpot with the role of a weathered cowboy escorting members of the Dutton family across the West. It's his voice and posture, not his sidearm, that makes detractors mess their pants. You have to wonder what Ford would have done with that role.
Jacob Dutton may end up being just as rich a character in future episodes, but that seems like a long shot. On the other hand, never forget what Ford once advised in a galaxy far, far away: Never tell him the odds.
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ABOUT THE WRITER
Neal Justin covers the entertainment world, primarily TV and radio, for the Star Tribune.
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