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The Eternal Duel
(1914) United States of America
B&W : One reel
Directed by Bertram Bracken
Cast: Henry King [General Paco Modesto], Velma Whitman [Juanita Martinez], Ray Gallagher, Henry Stanley
Lubin Manufacturing Company production; distributed by The General Film Company, Incorporated. / Produced by Siegmund Lubin. From a screen story by Will M. Ritchey. / Released 19 January 1914. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Drama.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? Gen. Paco Modesto, commander of a large Federal barrack in Mexico, and Arturo Martinez, a wealthy Mexican resident of the same city, are secretly working for the cause of the revolution. Don Alfredo, a fiery young Mexican dandy, pays court to Martinez’s pretty daughter, Juanita, but is coldly repulsed. Juanita favors Gen. Modesto as a lover. Alfredo, enraged over the result of his suit, challenges Modesto to a duel. They agree to meet the following morning. Alfredo stealthily follows Modesto to his office at the barracks and there, spying through the window, sees Modesto receive a letter from the insurrectos and deliver a pouch of gold contributed by Martinez. The letter, which Modesto hides in a secret recess in the mantel, compromises both the general and Martinez. The two men fight their duel the following morning, Modesto using a revolver, Alfredo depending alone on the Mexican riata, or lariat. Modesto fires all five of his cartridges without harming the dodging Alfredo. The latter then lassos Modesto and binds him to a tree trunk, arranging a dagger to a branch so that when the cord burns through it will fall and kill the general. Alfredo hurries to Modesto’s office, gets the incriminating letter from its hiding place and goes to Martinez’s house. Martinez is not at home and Alfredo tells Juanita that he has killed Modesto and demands that she marry him or he will expose her father as an insurrecto. Through the intervention of nature (a wind in this case) the dagger, in its fall, fails to strike Modesto. Furthermore, it aids him to release himself. Rushing to Martinez’s home, Modesto arrives in time to overpower the threatening Alfredo and destroy the dangerous letter. Juanita marries the general, whom she loves. Later the insurrectos, having carried the city. Modesto, as the new revolutionary governor, sentences Alfredo to a long term in prison.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 8 January 2025.
References: Website-IMDb.
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