Ike: Countdown To D-Day features some of Tom Selleck’s best work as an actor. While Harrison Ford made Indiana Jones an icon, he wasn’t the first choice. George Lucas was originally seeking a lesser-known actor for the part, with Tom Selleck being the front runner. The actor was already locked into Magnum P.I. at the point, so he had to decline on Raiders Of The Lost Ark. Magnum became iconic in his own right, with the show running for eight seasons and making Selleck a star.

It also allowed him to branch out to movie roles, including 1984’s Runaway and Three Men And A Baby. Television is where he’s mostly made his name, however, and aside from Magnum P.I. he’s appeared in the well-received Jesse Stone series of TV movies as a troubled, alcoholic ex-detective and he has a lead role in CBS’ long-running cop drama Blue Bloods alongside Donnie Wahlberg. He also had a well-received guest role on Friends as a love interest to Monica.

One of Selleck’s most famous trademarks is his mustache, but he shed that alongside a lot of his other recognizable traits to play Dwight D. Eisenhower in TV movie Ike: Countdown To D-Day. This movie marked his first collaboration with Robert Harmon (The Hitcher), who would direct most of the Jesse Stone movies and numerous episodes of Blue Bloods, and Ike is set in the days leading up to the Normandy landings. The movie has no battles scenes, however, and instead deals with the hard decisions and logistical issues that went into the operation.

There’s little trace of Selleck’s trademark charm in his performance, and the star is almost unrecognizable in the role. Eisenhower is called upon to make choices that will cost lives and the burden of those decisions is on display in Selleck’s face. Ike: Countdown To D-Day was produced to commemorate the 60th anniversary of D-Day, and it does so in a very human way. The movie also reunites Selleck with actor Gerald McRaney, star of Simon & Simon. The latter show was essentially saved thanks to a crossover episode with Magnum P.I. back in the 1980s, and McRaney is also known for his mustache. He shaved it for his role as Patton, and the two actors share some intense scenes together.

Ike: Countdown To D-Day received solid reviews when it aired back in 2004, but it probably remains Selleck’s most underrated work. It showed what he could do with great material and a challenging role, and he would continue to tap into that darker dramatic side with the Jesse Stone movies.

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