A Spanish Dilemma
About A Spanish Dilemma
Two Spanish brothers, played by Fred Mace and Mack Sennett, want the same woman, played by Mabel Normand. They cut cards, do shooting tricks, and duel with swords to settle it. Sennett directed the Biograph split-reel. Dell Henderson is also in the cast.
Cast & crew
More about A Spanish Dilemma
Percy Higginson photographed it. Biograph copyrighted it on 11 March 1912 and the General Film Company released it that day, on a split reel with The Engagement Ring. Silent Era says the shoot was in California in January 1912. An Internet Archive copy runs 7 minutes 59 seconds. W. C. Robinson and J. Jiquel Lanoe are on that copy’s cast note. The film is public domain in the United States.
Themes
Making
Sennett staged the Spanish costumes in California in January and shipped a half-reel that opens with cards and ends with swords.
Look
Percy Higginson shot the card cut, the gun tricks, and the sword duel.
Preservation
A print survives. The Internet Archive copy runs 7 minutes 59 seconds. The film is public domain in the United States.
Notes
- The brother parts are Mace and Sennett, not Fred Ward.
- Normand is the woman the duel is about.
- A surviving print exists. Silent Era does not name the archive.
- The Archive copy is half a reel, matching the split-reel release.
Scenes
- The brothers cut cards for Normand.
- The shooting tricks come before the swords.
- The duel is the last way they try to decide.
Also available
- Internet Archive (ASpanishDilemma1912)
