La sinopsis fue publicada en The Moving Picture World de octubre 30 de 1909, junto con el anuncio de cuarto de página que aparece a continuación:
Producida por New York Motion Picture Co.
The opening scene of this picture shows a concert hall of the West, and a Spanish dancer performing. After finishing her dance she goes among the spectators for money, and Jim Belden is the favored of them all. Alvers, a Mexican, resents this, and when scorned by the Spanish girl, draws a knife. Jim soon masters him and he is obliged to leave the place. A new admirer enters, and in the excitement of tormenting him, a shot is fired through the window which fells the dancer to the ground. Jim points to the window and all rush to it and see the Mexican mounting and riding off. The cowboys then mount their horses and go in pursuit. The Mexican sees he is being followed, but succeeds in hoodwinking his pursuers by leading his horse off trail, and after the men pass he rides back over it, joining a band of Mexicans, who, upon hearing his trouble, go away with him. The cowboys, after much hard riding, decide to camp for the night, and after their fires are made they are surrounded by the Mexicans. A fierce conflict ensues, in which many on both sides are wounded. One cowboy, however, succeeds in capturing the guilty Mexican. After caring for the injured ones, the cowboys proceed to prepare for their homeward march, dragging the Mexican along with them. When they reach the concert hall the dancer identifies the Mexican, who pleads for mercy. This is refused him, and he is later taken away by the Sheriff to be punished for his crime. The picture ends with a tableau of the Spanish dancer holding the hands of her two admirers.
La ficha filmográfica es de IMDb y la sinopsis de García Riera en México visto por el cine extranjero, (p. 15):
Mexican Crime o Mexican’s Crime. Producción: Estados Unidos (Bison), 1909. Productor: Thomas H. Ince. Director: Fred J. Balshofer. Intérpretes: J. Barney Sherry, Shorty Hamilton y Charles K. French. Western de un rollo. Estrenada en Estados Unidos el 29 de octubre de 1909. Sinopsis: En un concert-hall del oeste, una bailarina es felicitada al fin de su danza «española» por dos cowboys, lo que enfurece a un espectador mexicano. Éste amenaza con un cuchillo a uno de los cowboys, hiere de un balazo a la heroína y huye para reunir una banda y sitiar a los norteamericanos. Uno de los cowboys captura al mexicano y lo entrega a la justicia.
Continúa García Riera y menciona (p.20) que:
…fue sin duda siniestro el brillo de cuchillos y puñales mexicanos en westerns como The Pony Express (1907), A Tale of Texas (1909), Mexican Crime (1909), The Indian Scout Revenge (1910) o Broncho Billy’s Mexican Wife (1912)…
y más adelante en la misma obra antes citada (p. 55):
Las mexicanas «de moral dudosa» — bailarinas, cabareteras, prostitutas — no fueron todavía abundantes, por lo visto; proliferarían en el cine futuro y, sobre todo, en el sonoro, que les permitiría lucir habilidades musicales. Hubo de cualquier modo bailarinas mexicanas virtuosas como la de Mexican Crime (1909), y aun la de Broncho Billy’s Mexican Wife (1912), que traicionaba a su marido norteamericano, era capaz del amor verdadero.
CINE SILENTE MEXICANO / MEXICAN SILENT CINEMA 