This film version of the classic Argentine novel by Ricardo Guiraldes features Don Segundo Sombra as the heroic gaucho who rides the treeless pampas of his native land. The author's nephew Adolfo Guiraldes, an expert on Argentine folk stories, was chosen to play the title role. The director used the book instead of a script, as he faithfully shot scenes page-by-page to insure the authenticity demanded by the writer's heirs. A handful of professional actors augment the largely local cast of this slice of Argentine life from the beginning of the 20th century.