It stars Douglas Fairbanks as Lo Dorman (a pun, as it phonetically means "Sleeping Water" in French)[1] a man competing for the love of the local preacher's daughter (Jewel Carmen) with the local sheriff (Sam De Grasse).

Monica Nolan has suggested that the film follows the "common strategy of exposing racism and then evading a real confrontation with its consequences" by arranging for Lo to meet a more worthy (and politically acceptable) love interest, Teresa (Alma Rubens), "who, as both a Mexican and an outlaw, is his social equal.

The website Obscure Hollywood describes the context of the film as follows: "In 1915, Douglas Fairbanks, a twelve-year Broadway veteran, was starring in a stage vehicle tailor-made to his personality and athletic skills.

In The Half-Breed, the eighth of twelve features he would make for Triangle-Fine Arts, Fairbanks drops his typical light-hearted All-American boy persona and plays a stern social outcast.

"[3] Frederic Lombardi wrote that the film is “the most original and risky of Fairbanks’ Triangle features”.