AllMovie

One of the few opera divas to achieve success on the silent screen (due in part to her affable, non-diva temperament), Geraldine Farrar was starred in several Cecil B. DeMille productions, the third of which was 1916's Maria Rosa. Adapted by C.B.'s brother William C. DeMille from a play by Angel Guimara, the film starred Farrar as the title character, a Catalonian peasant girl. Local vintner Andreas (Wallace Reid) and his "pal" Ramon (Pedro de Cordoba) are both madly in love with Maria Rosa. When Ramon stabs and kills another man, Andreas is arrested for the crime. Maria Rosa promises to wait for Andrea, but Ramon convinces her that her sweetheart has died behind bars. Paroled for conspicuous bravery during a prison riot, Andreas arrives in time to prevent Maria Rosa from marrying the treacherous Ramon -- and, as a bonus, is present at Ramon's own sticky demise at the hands of the heroine.