1923: Dutton Family History, 100 Years Ago

The “1923” series is a tale of colonial greed and exploitation. This ongoing family saga about the Duttons picks up the story almost a century ago in the early 20th century.

During that time, between WWI and WWII period, colonial expansion was still happening not only in the USA but across different continents and numerous countries of the world.

Trailer of the 1923 (S1/2022) Series

Synopsis of the 1923 (S1/2022) Series

The 1923 series from the USA introduces a new generation of the Dutton family (led by actor Harrison Ford and actress Helen Mirren). They explore the early twentieth century when the pandemic, historic drought, the end of prohibition, and the Great Depression – all plague the mountain west and the Duttons who call it home in this Western drama.

Spoiler Free Review of the 1923 (S1/2022) Series

The introduction

To understand the context as well as the timeline of this historical tale of 1923 (20th Century), we recommend you watch the 1883 (19th century) series and/or the Yellowstone (21st century) series too. We have shared the details of all of these series with you in our Focus Magazine. Now, let us get back to other information related to the 1923 series.

The storyline of the first season

In the first season of this show, the Dutton family faced a new set of challenges in the early 20th century. These issues in question include Prohibition, the rise of Western expansion and the Great Depression in the United States of America. Assuming that you all are history buffs like us, then you might find this series has a gripping plotline to hold your attention. Its fictional tales are rooted in the inspirations taken from American history.

So, what else did we like about it?

The central theme of this 1923 show is – ‘greed will be the thing that kills us all‘, as per its creator and producers. Even after a century, this theme sounds remarkably true in 2023.

To be honest, at present, we are watching Taylor Sheridan’s TV series work- the Yellowstone and the 1883 TV series. Moreover, we are also a fan of veteran actors – Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren. So, it was good to see them play an on-screen couple. In addition, we are a history buff. And 1923 series boasts an honest and hard-hitting depiction of the historical realities in Montana state in that era. Grave issues, like Colonialism, Exploitation, and the Great Depression, dominated the early 1920s period.

Depiction of the Indigenous Issues

Honestly, we tried but we could not digest the cruel treatment of Indigenous children in its storyline. Later we learnt that these tales are based on the harsh realities of that historical period. These young indigenous children were forced to stay in the Native American Residential Schools. And these boarding schools were run by religious institutions with the active support of the US government.

Their single-point agenda was to forcibly assimilate Indigenous children into mainstream Western culture. To achieve their goals, these institutions used to carry out – sexual, manual, physical and mental abuse of young Native American children. Therefore, in the 1923 series – Teonna (Aminah Nieves) a young indigenous Native teenager suffered gruesome abuse at the hands of the clerics and nuns of such boarding schools, as they used ‘to beat the Indian’ or ‘savage’ out of the child. After reading about these kinds of horrific historical incidents of the past, we realized that these were honest depictions.

In other words, this series also acknowledges the historical misdeeds by talking about these issues publicly. We think these are good steps in the right direction.

These might start the healing process among the indigenous Native Americans.

The conclusion

Both the seniors – actor Harrison Ford and actress Dame Helen Mirren had a fascinating screen presence. They were very well supported by the talented ensemble cast members. We especially liked the work of young native American actress Aminah Nieves, whose tales broke our hearts. It has an honest take on the historical injustices. No wonder, we loved the first season of this captivating dramatic show. And now we look forward to its next season.

Ratings of the 1923 (S1/2022) Series

FM’s rating	4.25/5
Rotten Tomatoes ratings as of the date	90% Tomatometer & 66% Audience Score
Critics Consensus/Rotten Tomatoes	Distinguished by the ineffable star power of Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, 1923 is another solid if unrelentingly grim addition to Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone universe.

Poster of the 1923 (S1/2022) Series

Key Details about the 1923 (S1/2022) Series

Genre	Western, Drama
Released	December 2022
Creator	Taylor Sheridan*
Season	One (1) season
Episodes	Eight (8) episodes
Cast	Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, Aminah Nieves, Brandon Sklenar, etc.

Bonus YouTube Videos Links:
Best of 1923 (Part 1) | Paramount+ | Yellowstone
Best of 1923 (Part 2) | Paramount+ | Yellowstone

Also read the FM review of Mayor of Kingstown Series, another show created by Taylor Sheridan.

Focus on the young actress Aminah Nieves

We got a chance to admire the plotline depicting the journey of a young upcoming Native Indigenous actor – Aminah Nieves; which is a rare occurrence in the mainstream show of the USA. Notably, Aminah Nieves is an Indigenous Native American actor, who played Teonna in the 1923 series, one of the important characters in this story.

This is what she said about playing the challenging role and the filming of violent scenes.

It was really hard to move through because you feel everything. I knew it wasn’t just going to be me feeling it. I knew that there were gonna be ancestors flowing through me. That’s exactly what happened when I got to set. I felt like sometimes, I wasn’t even in control of my body, you know? It felt like, ‘Aminah, someone else is here. Let them take over for a second.’

I was scared a lot. I wanted to make sure I was honouring every single human, every single family member, my grandparents, my aunties, my mom, my dad and then all of the communities. I’m so happy that I’m here and doing it and being a voice.

Native American actor Aminah Nieves | Town & Country

Bonus info. about the show creator Taylor Sheridan

You can also read about its prequel the 1883 and sequel Yellowstone series in our Focus magazine. 1883, 1923 and the Yellowstone series were created by Taylor Sheridan. So, these shows are cut from the same cloth. They narrate the story of the Dutton family in different eras. Each period has its own set of problems and issues.

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Featured & Other Images: 1923 Show | Paramount+ & IMDb.