Summary
In the rugged Sierra, Don Salvador, a chieftain of mountain outlaws, issues a dying decree: his daughter, Carmelita, must wed the band's most formidable man. This grim edict precipitates a fierce duel between the volatile Pedro and the steadfast Leonardo. Pedro emerges victorious, claiming Carmelita's hand, though her intervention spares Leonardo's life, postponing their union until the Fiesta of Roses. Into this charged landscape arrives Kent Staunton, an American artist, whose encounter with Carmelita—then disguised as a boy for a friendly competition—ignites an unforeseen spark. A tempestuous night forces Carmelita to seek shelter in Kent's cabin, an innocent act misconstrued by a jealous Pedro. Their ensuing confrontation leads to Pedro's arrest, but not before he poisons Carmelita's mind with the lie that Kent is a spy responsible for her father's death, fueling her desire for vengeance despite a nascent attraction. Relocating to Seville, Carmelita agrees to pose for Kent, her resolve to avenge Pedro's fabricated injustice wavering at the precipice of a knife's edge. The truth, however, is an inescapable tide; learning of Pedro's deceit, Carmelita rejects him upon his escape from prison. Enraged, Pedro desecrates her portrait and, under threat of Kent's life, forces a marriage ceremony. Yet, fate intervenes once more as Leonardo, apprised of the dire situation, dramatically intercedes, shooting Pedro. With the path cleared of deceit and coercion, Kent and Carmelita finally unite, their love forged in the crucible of mountain intrigue and urban treachery.
Synopsis
As he lies dying, Don Salvador, the leader of a political outlaw band in the mountains near Seville, tells his daughter Carmelita to marry the best man in the band. After Pedro and Leonardo duel, Carmelita agrees to marry Pedro, the winner, at the Fiesta of Roses, and saves Leonardo. American artist Kent Staunton, painting in the mountains, poses Carmelita, who is dressed as a boy to compete with a friend. After she spends the night in Kent's cabin to avoid a storm, Pedro, misunderstanding, fights Kent and gets arrested. Although attracted to Kent, Carmelita vows revenge when Pedro says that Kent is a spy who killed her father. In Seville, she poses for Kent, but an impulse stops her from stabbing him. After learning that Pedro was lying, Carmelita refuses to marry him when he escapes from jail. Pedro slashes her portrait and, threatening to kill Kent, forces a marriage ceremony. Leonardo, however, learns of this and shoots Pedro. Kent and Carmelita then marry.
