In an echo of the original pilot feature, Caine becomes involved with the railroad, this time when landowners are driven off their properties, vowing to die fighting against the Pinkertons led by the tyrannical Edwards (Barry Sullivan, also back from the pilot). The farmers are led by Jim Youngblood (John Anderson, previously seen in episode 3 "Blood Brother"), and are offered amnesty and financial renumeration by Mr. Harrison (Harrison Ford) on behalf of the railroad, who tire of the ongoing conflict; the bitter Edwards determines to end things his own bloody way. Andy Robinson, the memorable psycho killer in the original "Dirty Harry," plays a wounded member of Youngblood's gang, with Denver Pyle making a return appearance as the doctor (he'd played the mayor in "The Ancient Warrior"). 31-year-old Harrison Ford makes a rare television appearance, one year after his first notable movie role in 1973's "American Graffiti."
Review of Crossties
