“Yellowstone” predecessor: “1923”-Western saga with Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren

From the power struggles of the Rancher in “Yellowstone” to the comeback of a mafia sponsor in “Tulsa King” to the machinations in the tough oil business in “Landman”-Taylor Sheridan has built up a successful series empire in recent years that grows and is growing . His stories are about the harsh reality of the American West, lawlessness, revenge and the consequences of colonization and modernization.

Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren in the Wild West

For this, Sheridan won top stars such as Kevin Costner, Sylvester Stallone or Demi Moore in front of the camera. “1923”, his spin-off of “Yellowstone”, is also top-class. Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren play the leading roles in the series, which will go into the second season at Paramount+ from Sunday (February 23).

“The vision of Taylor Sheridan is really impressive and it is incredibly creative,” enthuses Oscar winner Mirren (“Die Queen”) in the interview of the German Press Agency in London. “1923” was an American version of Leo Tolstoy “War and Peace”. “Because it looks at the history of America in an incredibly comprehensive way. There are so many plot lines, and the whole thing is just huge.”

Gripping first season made you want more

The first season of “1923” was what Americans call “Bingeworthy” – so gripping that you want to see her in one go. The “Yellowstone” spin -off is about the ancestors of John Dutton III, who fight for their existence in the 1920s – the era of prohibition, the global economic crisis and growing conflicts about land and power in the American west. The shot was shot on wonderful original locations in the mountains of Montana.

Harrison Ford plays the head of the family Jacob Dutton. The aging rancher is not afraid to use extreme means and to take the law into your own hands when it comes to defending his family and property. “There is no good or bad here,” he says. Oscar winner Mirren (“Die Queen”) plays his strong wife Cara, who also knows how to assert herself under cowboys.

Magnificent old stars in top form

The chemistry between the Altstars Ford (82) and Mirren (79) is literally tangible in “1923”. “I don’t know what it is, but I just love to be with Harrison,” says Mirren, who met the Ford in the mid -1980s while shooting “Mosquito Coast”. At that time she was a theater and TV star in Great Britain, but inexperienced in Hollywood. “I’m still learning from him,” says Mirren about her colleague today.

Anyone who has never seen the first season of “1923” can catch up with the eight episodes at Paramount+ quickly. Without revealing too much: In season 1, Jacob gets into a bitter conflict with the cattle breeder Banner Creighton (“Game of Thrones” star Jerome Flynn). When one pact with the unscrupulous Bänker Donald Whitfield (Timothy Dalton) takes in, it becomes more difficult for the buns.

A former 007 as a charismatic fiesling

Ex-james bond actor Dalton (“The Hint of Death”) was perhaps the most talented actor who ever played the agent 007. In “1923” the Shakespeare veteran shows its diabolical side – as an absolute fiesling, which is still charismatic. “He is a great villain,” says Mirren too. “He does not play an attached villain, you completely take it off. Such people with exactly this attitude really exists, and unfortunately they are taking over the world.”

The hopes of the duttons rest on the return of her nephew Spencer (Brandon Sklenar), who struggles in Africa as a lion hunter until he falls in love with a British noble. In a further storyline, the indigenous tonna Rainwater (Aminah Nieves) is defending itself against the sisters in a brutal Catholic boarding school. That escalates.

In the second season of “1923”, it will be shown in the second season of “1923”, which will also be the last one. The eight new episodes will be released every week on Sunday.