The Moving Picture World del 28 de diciembre de 1912 (Vol. XIV, No. 13, p. 1325) publicó una sinopsis de la película y anuncia como fecha de estreno el 31 de diciembre:
The Bravery of Dora (1912)
THE BRAVERY OF DORA (Dec. 31).—Dora Miller and her father together with Juan, a young half breed, live peacefully at their ranch along the Rio Grande. Juan is in love with Dora and she is not averse to him. One morning while the little family is seated at breakfast, shots are heard outside. A party of U. S. soldiers has been attacked by Mexican troops and retreating as they fight, finally taking refuge in the Miller homestead. The doors and windows are barricaded and a sharp fight ensues. Juan, the half breed, at first to fire against the people whose blood runs in his veins, but at last infuriated by the sight of a wound received by Dora, he grabs the rifle and begins firing furiously. Ho is thus engaged as the Mexican troops break into the house and is captured by them and locked in an upstairs room.
The commanding officer of the Mexican forces promises to shoot Juan the next miming. That night, however, Dora manages to get into the room where Juan is confined and smuggles to him a rope with which he escapes. The next morning, the Mexican officer sends for Juan to carry out his threat of shooting him and much to the surprise of the guard when the room is opened, out steps Dora. Furious at the escape of his victim, the Mexican promptly arrests Dora’s father and tells her that should her half breed lover not return by afternoon, the father will take his place in, front of a firing squad.
In the meantime, Juan is hastening at breakneck speed on a horse taken from the Mexicans, to secure aid. Arriving at the camp of an American patrol, he gets the sergeant in charge to accompany him and with the entire troop cavalry rushes back to the Miller homestead, arriving just in time to prevent the execution of the old man by the Mexicans.
En el Betzwood Movie Database se consigna sobre la cinta la siguiente información:
The Bravery of Dora
An elderly father and his daughter Dora discover Juan falling down by the side of the road and bring him back home to recover. Described as a half breed in the inter-titles [for unknown reasons], we are given to understand that Juan is half Mexican. The film seems to be set during the later Mexican Revolution, specifically in American territory in the Mexican Border War, which was fought between independence fighters, federals, and the various U.S. armed forces. Soon a U.S. Army division finds refuge in Dora’s family home, and there is a shoot-out with Mexican forces, in which the Mexicans prevail. Juan refuses to shoot at the Mexican side, citing mixed loyalties. Soon he is captured by the Mexican soldiers who nonetheless brand him a traitor and sentence him to death on the morrow. Dora hatches a plot to rescue Juan, as they have become attached, and helps him to escape. Juan races off to the US forces, who race back to the scene, saving Dora and her father who has now become a replacement for the missing Juan in punishment to Dora. According to the added titles, at the end Juan saves the day and wins Dora for his own.
Lubin Manufacturing Company, 1912. Running time: 17 minutes. Produced by Siegmund Lubin. Featuring Earl Metcalfe, Edna Payne and E.J. Phillips.
Library copy: DVD transfer of library VHS copy of Betzwood Archive 16mm film print, as restored by the Museum of Modern Art. Please note that the final scene featuring the rescue is missing, as noted in the inter-title added by the Museum of Modern Art at the time of their restoration of this film.
El periódico Colonist de Nueva Zelanda en el ejemplar del 25 de octubre de 1913 (Vol. LV, No. 13842, p. 7) en su columna Permanent Pictures dedicada a los espectáculos, publicó:
… On Monday (Labour Day) a special holiday matinee will be given, commencing at 2:30, when a complete new programme will be screened, headed by the Nat Pinkerton detective story, «The Secret Cupboard.» Other items are: «The Misunderstood Boy,» A. B. drama; «Calamity Anne’s Beauty,» Flying A. comedy; «Bravery of Dora,» Lubin. drama…
En La mirada circular (p. 169), Margarita de Orellana apunta que:
Una de las formas en las cuales el cine de ficción redimía a los mexicanos era cuando éstos se subordinaban a los estadounidenses, traicionando a sus paisanos. En El valor de Dora (1912), un personaje chicano se encuentra en un rancho norteamericano en medio de una batalla entre mexicanos y estadounidenses. Se niega a disparar contra los suyos, pero al ver cómo una bala hiere a Dora Miller, de quien está enamorado, dispara. Es al fin atrapado por los mexicanos y condenado a muerte por traición. Pronto lo salvan los militares norteamericanos.
Emilio García Riera en México visto por el cine extranjero (p. 54) menciona que:
Los defectos mexicanos eran naturalmente resaltados por el contraste con las virtudes anglosajonas, y si alguna virtud mexicana mereció aprecio, fue sobre todo la propiciadora de una conducta favorable y amistosa con los norteamericanos; así, por ser buenos con los gringos, algunos mexicanos se salvaron de la denigración en A Mexican’s Gratitude (1909), The Thread ofDestiny (1910), The Mexican’s Faith (1910), Tony the Greaser (1911 y 1914), The Bravery of Dora (1912), The Greaser (1915) y The Good in Him (1915).
La película fue producida por la Lubin Manufacturing Company; sin que sepamos quién la dirigió. Los intérpretes fueron Earl Metcalfe (Juan, el mestizo), Edna Payne (Dora) y E. J. Phillips (padre de Dora).
CINE SILENTE MEXICANO / MEXICAN SILENT CINEMA 