The Rose of the Rancho

   David Belasco collaborated with Richard Walton Tully on this popular three-act melodrama acclaimed for its lavish, boldly theatrical production. It opened on 27 November 1906 for 480 performances at Belasco Theatre, with Charles J. Richman as Kearney, a government agent sent to California to investigate the seizing of Spanish land by American developers. He falls in love with Juanita, acted by Frances Starr, the half-American daughter of a Spanish landowner. The villain Kin-caid, attempting to steal the land of Juanita's family, makes it appear that Kearney has aided him. She is hurt, but ultimately learns that Kearney has been protecting her family's interests. They are wed despite her father's desire that she marry a Spaniard. Cecil B. DeMille directed a 1914 motion picture version and a 1936 semi-MusicAL version starred opera great Gladys Swarthout.