Untitled 1931 Oklahoma Tragedy Project
Synopsis:

On a breezy, star-filled night in 1931, three young Mexican college
students driving home to Mexico City on their summer break pull over
to the side of a rural highway. Salvador Cortes Rubio hops out of the
car and scurries over beside a tree to urinate, leaving his cousin
Emilio Cortes Rubio and his friend Manuel Garcia Gomez sitting in the
car. After a moment an unidentified car pulls up behind the students'
car. Less than five minutes later, Emilio Cortes Rubio and Manuel
Garcia Gomez are shot dead and Salvador Cortes Rubio is being taken
into police custody. Later, in a dank police interrogation room,
Salvador is questioned as to his identity and the identity of the
slain students: "…we are nephews of Pascual Ortiz Rubio, the President
of the Republic of Mexico."

Salvador Cortes Rubio, his cousin Emilio Cortes Rubio, and friend
Manuel Garcia Gomez were virtually inseparable during their brief days
in college. For their summer break they decide to drive Manuel's car
home to Mexico City, instead of their usual train ride. Before
finishing their packing, they attend one of Manuel's boxing matches.
Quick to anger and defensiveness, Manuel reacts violently to a racial
slur slung at him by his opponent in the ring. With only a few strong
blows he has knocked his opponent out. Upset by his inability to
'play the game' and not take life so personally, as though everyone
were out to get him, Father Gleason, the patriarch of the school and
close friend to the students, leaves the fight uncertain of what may
come to the boys on their journey.

While loading up the car to leave, the students are warned to be
careful as they cross through the State of Oklahoma. Unconcerned by
this warning, Manuel shrugs it off. He has packed his bag with
ammunition and firearms that he plans not only to use as protection
against bandits but to sell in Mexico to make up for money spent on
the trip.

Meanwhile, in a small town in Oklahoma called Ardmore, three masked
men, of very similar builds to the three students, rob a bank.
Detectives William Guess and Cecil Crosby come to the scene for
questioning of the witnesses. To their surprise, the robbers did not
make much of an attempt to actually steal. It was as though they did
not really want to rob the place, but, rather, make a statement.

At the same time in Mexico, Pascual Ortiz Rubio, appointed President
of the Republic of Mexico by the powerful Plutarco Calles (a man of
incalculable power and deceit), finds himself threatened if he does
not resign from his post. He is trying too hard to fulfill his own
ideals as President and not adhering to the guidelines laid down by
the very man who put him in his position. Calles is the true power of
Mexico; Pascual is merely his puppet. Pascual is also the Uncle of
Salvador and Emilio. When he refuses to step down, Calles calmly
reminds him that he has the power to destroy his family, no matter
where in the world they may be.

Later, while crossing through Oklahoma, Manuel, who suffers from
recurring bouts with malaria, is falling very ill. Salvador and
Emilio decide to stop at a local root beer stand right outside of
Ardmore to refuel their bodies with food. Also at the stand, on break
from their search for the bank robbers, are Detectives William Guess
and Cecil Crosby. At first, the detectives don't really find the boys
suspicious. They are looking for three bank robbers and only see two
(Manuel is lying down in the backseat of the car during the pit stop).
The students also do not look concerned or as though they are on the
run from anything. So the detectives don't pay much attention to
them. It is only when the students order a meal to go and pay with a
large bill that is unusual for someone to pay with, that the
detectives suddenly grow suspicious of them.

Back in Mexico, Pascual the President, his wife, and his niece are
riding along in the Presidential limousine when they are suddenly run
into by another vehicle. A Rugged Man jumps out of the other vehicle
and begins to open fire upon the President's limousine. His actions
are cut short by a guard trailing near by, but the President, his
wife, and his niece are all injured.

Later, the three boys stop at the side of an inner-city highway so
that Salvador may step out and urinate. "I forgot to pee," he tells
Emilio. "How do you forget to pee?" "I just forgot!" Salvador steps
out of the car and walks up to a tree several feet in the front of the
car, the headlights still on so he can see. Seconds later, the
detectives pull up behind the boys' vehicle in their own unmarked
police vehicle. Detective Crosby quickly walks up to Salvador by the
tree and begins questioning him as to what they are doing. Meanwhile,
inside the car, Emilio and Manuel have grown increasingly worried
about who these unknown men might be. They have not noticed anything
that would suggest they might be police officers. Manuel, quick to
defend himself and remembering the remarks by the unknown student at
the school before they left, slowly prepares to defend himself and his
friends with the pistols he has kept inside the cab of the car.

Back in the unmarked police car, William Guess sees Manuel sitting up
in the back seat of the students' car. This makes three! Reacting
suddenly to what he now believes may in fact be the robbers they have
been searching for, Billy jumps out of the car, holding his weapon to
his side, and approaches the students' vehicle quickly. Suddenly,
Manuel jumps out of the students' car, a blanket still draped over him
to keep him warm, and the guns hidden. "Stay where you are!" Billy
shouts to Manuel, his gun now raised. Manuel is now frightened. His
malaria begins to kick in as a breeze blows his blanket up, revealing
the two pistols in his hands. "Drop the guns!!" Billy shouts. "NOW!"
A series of coughs rise violently from Manuel's chest, his body
forcing his hands up into the air. Billy fires, hitting Manuel square
in the chest, his body spinning and falling to the ground. Running
and kneeling at Manuel's side, Billy begins to cry. This is not what
he wanted. Suddenly, Emilio moves inside the car, a pistol in his
hand. Billy, now reacting solely on instinct, fires into the car,
hitting Emilio in the side, killing him. Several men and women have
begun to gather around the tragic site as Cecil places Salvador in
handcuffs.

Was this an innocent accident? Were the officers following the laws
they were sworn to uphold? Did they properly identify themselves?
Was Manuel raising his guns to drop them or was he simply convulsing
from the coughs, causing it to appear as though he were about to fire
on Guess? Was the attempted assassination on Pascual ordered by
Calles? Who was the mysterious student that warned the three boys
before they left school? Was the odd bank robbery and ultimate
shooting of the boys an elaborate plot to make Pascual resign his
presidency? Or was it all simply a case of being in the wrong place
at the wrong time? A political thriller based on the true events that
took place in that fateful day in June of 1931, An Oklahoma Tragedy
probes into the truth of what may have happened, suggesting a
conspiracy that may have traveled all the way up to the White House.