Artful Kate 1911

In February 1911, United States Navy Lieutenant Hamilton Owen Moore informs his girlfriend Kate Stanley Mary Pickford that he has been assigned to the USS Florida, which is bound for Cuba, and he requests a photograph from her to carry as a keepsake inside the cover of his pocket watch. He promises he will not be swayed by foreign temptations.

A week later, Kate receives an invitation to a large house party in Havana from her uncle Manuel Jose, and she is overjoyed at the thought of reuniting with Hamilton. She quickly settles into her uncle’s home, even before the Florida’s arrival, savoring the idea of being close to him again.

To test Hamilton’s love, she borrows a maid’s clothes to disguise herself as a Spanish senorita. The lieutenant is immediately smitten, yet his first efforts to pursue her are rebuffed. Undaunted, he secures an introduction and takes her for a walk, while she makes things challenging by pretending not to understand English.

When Hamilton returns to the United States, he goes to see Kate. She asks to see her picture in his watch, and he fabricates a story about losing it amid fierce fighting. She has him close his eyes; when he opens them, she is standing there as the senorita. She orders him to leave, but after a tense moment she relents, and they embrace, bridging distance and doubt with a carefully staged display of affection.