1923 (Paramount +, 2022)

A big-budget romance

Like 1883, the Western series we reviewed recently (click the link for that), 1923 is another spin-off of the popular Yellowstone, created and often written and/or directed by Taylor Sheridan. It recounts the history of a different generation of the Dutton family in Montana.

It is less obviously ‘Western’ than 1883, and indeed much of the story concerns a white hunter in East Africa and his romance with an over-privileged rich English girl. There are in fact three stories woven in together, the East Africa one, one about an appallingly abusive religious school for Native American girls and the more classically Western ranch story about a looming range war, which, fortunately, is given greatest prominence.

To dispose of the Kenya/Tanganyika thread first, which I found pretty boring, we have macho Spencer Dutton (Brandon Sklenar) who is a professional animal killer for hire, and a very beautiful but essentially spoiled and tiresomely giggly English aristo, Alexandra (Julia Schlaepfer), and their love affair. It is really little more than a Mills & Boon romance. Because of all the shenanigans back in Montana, Spencer is sent for but doesn’t read the letters for some unconvincing reason and when he finally does, all sorts of accidents frustrate his return. Presumably, in Season 2 Spencer will assume command of the Dutton clan and save the Yellowstone ranch, but not in this run.

It’s difficult to imagine that the priests and nuns entrusted with the education of American Indian children would be quite that wicked and cruel but terrible abuses certainly did occur at these establishments and this show makes the most of those. The principal goal of these clerics seems to have been to beat the ‘Indianness’ out of their charges, physically and with mental torture too, turning them into a suitably ‘white’ (and Christian, of course) underclass fit to be domestic servants. The chief character is fifteen-year-old Teonna Rainwater (Aminah Nieves), who finally rebels against the vicious priest in charge of the school (Sebastian Roché) and two of the nuns, one who takes pleasure in beating her brutally (Jennifer Ehle) and the other who sexually assaults her (Kerry O’Malley). This part of the tale does have a satisfactory anti-clerical tone, which was good, but makes hard viewing.

The chief stars, though, are Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren as the elderly Dutton rulers of Yellowstone, Jacob and Clara, who have to deal with a lowlife sheepherder – traditional enemy of the cattleman in Westerns, of course – Banner Creighton (Jerome Flynn) and then, worse, with loathsome mining magnate Whitfield (Timothy Dalton) who is determined to drive out all the ranchers, including the Duttons, so that he can extract the mineral resources from the land in order to enrich himself and his dynasty.

Mr Ford did a pretty good job, I thought, as the 78-year-old hard-as-nails rancher determined to protect his family heritage, and top-billed Ms Mirren, four-time Oscar nominee and winner for her role as The Queen in 2007, assuming a broad Irish accent, is strong, let’s say, as the matriarch.

There are assorted more junior Duttons and neighbors, all with their own romances and sub-plots of course. You never really identify with them or find them particularly sympathetic.

On the plus side, some of the Montana locations were fine, and beautifully shot by Ben Richardson, who was also writer and director of some episodes, and Corrin Hodgson (perhaps the South Africa locations, I’m not sure).

On the debit side of the ledger I found the music (Brian Tyler, Breton Vivian) turgid and dull, and often slushily romantic (though that was appropriate for much of the content).

Also not too hot was some of the writing, which was both anachronistic and clichéd. Dalton actually says at one point “I want the whole valley”. Some cowboys leave for California to appear in “the silent movies” (of course they weren’t called that; silent movies were the only kind there was). Shipwrecked Spencer gives his shirt to his fiancée and jokes that he is “gonna work on my tan”. The posh English girl says, “Like I said, I’m British.” And so on. Never mind, it’s not too glaring generally.

I can’t really recommend this show, I’m afraid.  It’s a big-budget romance. If that’s your thing, go ahead, but it isn’t mine. Sheridan’s contemporary crime shows like Mayor of Kingstown and Tulsa King are grittier and better, in my view.