Betty Compson, aboard ship 1920s.
This page includes Betty Compson's (March 19, 1897 – April 18, 1974) known film appearances from 1915 to 48.
Films from 1915 to 1919 are shorts, mostly for Al Christie, unless otherwise stated. A big breakout came in 1919, with The Miracle Man, which is now lost. In the early-to-mid 1920s, Compson was a major player at Paramount. By the end of the decade, her work became free-lance. Her fame began to decline after marrying director James Cruze, and she would remain a feature support for the rest of her film career.
Shorts
Betty with the Al Christie company center, left, circa 1916.
with William Desmond in The Prodigal Liar 1919.
The Devil's Trail lantern slide, 1919
The Terror of the Range, 1919, lobby poster
with Joseph J. Dowling in The Miracle Man, 1919
.jpg.webp)
sheet music cover to The Miracle Man, 1919
on the cover of Shadowland magazine February 1920
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1915 | Wanted: A Leading Lady | The Leading Lady | |
| 1915 | Their Quiet Honeymoon | Betty – 1st Newlywed | |
| 1915 | Where the Heather Blooms | Lady Mary | |
| 1915 | Love and a Savage | Betty | |
| 1915 | Some Chaperone | Betty – the 1st Daughter | |
| 1916 | Jed's Trip to the Fair | Lizzie | |
| 1916 | Mingling Spirits | Mrs. Newlywed | |
| 1916 | Her Steady Carfare | Betty | |
| 1916 | A Quiet Supper for Four | Mrs. Newlywed | |
| 1916 | When the Losers Won | Mrs. Newlywed | |
| 1916 | Her Friend, the Doctor | Mary West | |
| 1916 | Cupid Trims his Lordship | Betty – the Daughter | |
| 1916 | When Lizzie Disappeared | ||
| 1916 | The Deacon's Waterloo | Betty – the Girl | |
| 1916 | Love and Vaccination | The Doctor's Sister | |
| 1916 | A Friend, But a Star Boarder | (unconfirmed) | |
| 1916 | The Janitor's Busy Day | Betty Hammond | |
| 1916 | He Almost Eloped | Betty – Billie's Roommate | |
| 1916 | A Leap Year Tangle | Betty – One of the Girls – Eddie's Sweetheart | |
| 1916 | Eddie's Night Out | Betty Newlywed | |
| 1916 | The Newlyweds' Mix-Up | Mrs. Newlywed | |
| 1916 | Lem's College Career | Mary | |
| 1916 | Potts Bungles Again | Betty | |
| 1916 | He's a Devil | Betty – Eddie's Sweetheart | |
| 1916 | The Wooing of Aunt Jemima | Betty | |
| 1916 | Her Celluloid Hero | Betty – the Actor's Sweetheart | |
| 1916 | All Over a Stocking | The Stenographer | |
| 1916 | Wanted: A Husband | The Wife | |
| 1916 | Almost a Widow | Mrs. Gordon | |
| 1916 | The Browns See the Fair | The Train Passenger | |
| 1916 | His Baby | Betty – the Peach | |
| 1916 | Inoculating Hubby | Wifie | |
| 1916 | Those Primitive Days | Heela Hoola | |
| 1916 | The Making Over of Mother | Mrs. Newlywed | |
| 1916 | He Wouldn't Tip | The Pippin | |
| 1916 | That Doggone Bab | Wifie Parker | |
| 1916 | He Loved the Ladies | Mrs. Gordon | |
| 1916 | When Clubs Were Trumps | Wifie Parker | |
| 1916 | Dad's Masterpiece | Betty Morton | |
| 1916 | Nearly a Hero | Betty – the Sheriff's Daughter | |
| 1916 | A Brass-Buttoned Romance | ||
| 1916 | Her Sun-Kissed Hero | The Peach | |
| 1916 | Some Kid | ||
| 1916 | Sea Nymphs | Betty – the Wife | |
| 1916 | Hist! At Six O'Clock | Tillie de Vamp | |
| 1916 | Cupid's Uppercut | Betty | |
| 1916 | Lovers and Lunatics | Betty Grey | |
| 1917 | Her Crooked Career | The Girl | |
| 1917 | Her Friend, the Chauffeur | The Girl | |
| 1917 | Small Change | The Girl | |
| 1917 | Hubby's Night Out | Wifey | |
| 1917 | Out for the Coin | ||
| 1917 | As Luck Would Have It | ||
| 1917 | Sauce for the Goose | ||
| 1917 | Suspended Sentence | ||
| 1917 | Father's Bright Idea | ||
| 1917 | His Last Pill | ||
| 1917 | Those Wedding Bells | ||
| 1917 | Almost a Scandal | ||
| 1917 | A Bold, Bad Knight | ||
| 1917 | Five Little Widows | Betty Morgan | |
| 1917 | Down by the Sea | ||
| 1917 | Won in a Cabaret | ||
| 1917 | A Smoky Love Affair | ||
| 1917 | Crazy by Proxy | ||
| 1917 | Betty's Big Idea | ||
| 1917 | Almost a Bigamist | ||
| 1917 | Love and Locksmiths | ||
| 1917 | Nearly a Papa | Mrs. Gordon | |
| 1917 | Almost Divorced | ||
| 1917 | Betty Wakes Up | Sally | |
| 1917 | Their Seaside Tangle | ||
| 1917 | Help! Help! Police! | ||
| 1917 | Cupid's Camouflage | Betty | |
| 1918 | Many a Slip | ||
| 1918 | Whose Wife? | ||
| 1918 | Circumstantial Evidence | ||
| 1918 | Here Comes the Groom | (unconfirmed) | |
| 1918 | Somebody's Baby | ||
| 1918 | Betty's Adventure | Betty | |
| 1918 | Never Surprise Your Wife | ||
| 1918 | All Dressed Up | ||
| 1918 | The Sheriff | School teacher | |
| 1922 | A Trip to Paramountown | Herself | |
| 1931 | Hollywood Halfbacks | Herself | |
| 1934 | No Sleep on the Deep | Mrs. Eldridge | |
| 1934 | The Watchman Takes a Wife | Molly Clyde |
Features
Betty Compson, 1921
Betty Compson, 1921
Photoplay magazine cover June 1922.
Movie Weekly July 29, 1922
The Rustle of Silk 1923
The Enemy Sex lobby card, 1924
The Female, lobby card, 1924
Silent Films: 1918–1929
| Year | Title | Role | Studio(s) / Distributor(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1918 | The Border Raiders | Rose Hardy | Pathé Exchange | Copy held at the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée |
| 1919 | Terror of the Range | Thelma Grant | Pathé Exchange | Film serial Lost film |
| The Prodigal Liar | Hope Deering | Lost film | ||
| The Light of Victory | Jane Ravenslee | Bluebird Photoplays Universal Film Manufacturing Company | Lost film | |
| The Little Diplomat | Phyllis Dare | Pathé Exchange | Lost film | |
| The Devil's Trail | Rose | World Film Company | Lost dilm | |
| The Miracle Man | Rose | Paramount Famous Players-Lasky | Lost film Two fragments survive | |
| 1921 | Prisoners of Love | Blanche Davis | Goldwyn Pictures | Lost film Also produced |
| For Those We Love | Bernice Arnold | Goldwyn Pictures | Lost film Also produced | |
| At the End of the World | Cherry O'Day | Paramount Famous Players-Lasky | Copy held at the Gosfilmofond Russian Archive | |
| Ladies Must Live | Christine Bleeker | Paramount Famous Players-Lasky | Lost film | |
| The Little Minister | Lady Babbie | Paramount Famous Players-Lasky | ||
| 1922 | The Law and the Woman | Margaret Rolfe | Paramount Famous Players-Lasky | Lost film |
| The Green Temptation | Genelle/Coralyn/Joan Parker | Paramount Famous Players-Lasky | Lost film | |
| Over the Border | Jen Galbriath | Paramount Famous Players-Lasky | Lost film | |
| Always the Woman | Celia Thaxter | Goldwyn Pictures | An incomplete copy is held at the UCLA Film and Television Archive | |
| The Bonded Woman | Angela Gaskell | Paramount Famous Players-Lasky | Copy held at the Gosfilmofond Russian Archive | |
| To Have and to Hold | Lady Jocelyn Leigh | Paramount Famous Players-Lasky | Lost film | |
| Kick In | Molly Brandon | Paramount Famous Players-Lasky | Copy held at the Library of Congress | |
| 1923 | The White Flower | Konia Markham | Paramount Famous Players-Lasky | Lost film |
| The Rustle of Silk | Lala De Breeze | Paramount Famous Players-Lasky | Lost film | |
| The Woman With Four Faces | Elizabeth West | Paramount Famous Players-Lasky | Lost film | |
| Hollywood | Herself | Paramount Famous Players-Lasky | Lost film | |
| Woman to Woman | Louise Boucher/Deloryse | Woolf & Freedman Film Service | Lost film | |
| The Royal Oak | Lady Mildred Cholmondeley | Stoll Pictures | Lost film | |
| 1924 | The Stranger | Peggy Bowlin | Paramount Famous Players-Lasky | Lost film |
| Miami | Joan Bruce | W. W. Hodkinson | Lost film | |
| Dangerous Virtue | Balcon, Freedman & Saville | |||
| The White Shadow | Nancy Brent/Georgina Brent | Woolf & Freedman | Incomplete film | |
| The Enemy Sex | Dodo Baxter | Paramount Famous Players-Lasky | Copy held at the Library of Congress | |
| The Female | Dalla | Paramount Famous Players-Lasky | Lost film | |
| Ramshackle House | Pen Broome | Producers Distributing Corporation | Lost film | |
| The Fast Set | Margaret Stone | Paramount Famous Players-Lasky | Lost film | |
| The Garden of Weeds | Dorothy Delbridge | Paramount Famous Players-Lasky | Lost film | |
| 1925 | Locked Doors | Mrs. Norman 'Mary Reid' Carter | Paramount Famous Players-Lasky | Lost film |
| New Lives for Old | Olympe | Paramount Famous Players-Lasky | Lost film | |
| Eve's Secret | Eve | Paramount Famous Players-Lasky | Copy held at the Library of Congress | |
| Beggar on Horseback | Princess in Pantomime | Paramount Famous Players-Lasky | Incomplete copy held at the Library of Congress | |
| Paths to Paradise | Molly | Paramount Famous Players-Lasky | Incomplete copy held at George Eastman Museum | |
| The Pony Express | Molly Jones | Paramount Famous Players-Lasky | ||
| Counsel for the Defense | Katherine West | Associated Exhibitions | Lost film | |
| 1926 | The Palace of Pleasure | Lola Montez | Fox Film Corporation | Lost film |
| The Wise Guy | Hula Kate | First National Pictures | Copy held at the National Archives of Canada | |
| The Belle of Broadway | Marie Duval/The Young Adele | Columbia Pictures | Copy held at the Library of Congress | |
| 1927 | The Ladybird | Diane Wyman | Chadwick Pictures | Copy held at the Library of Congress |
| Say It with Diamonds | Betty Howard | Chadwick Pictures | Copies held at the Library of Congress and George Eastman House | |
| Temptations of a Shop Girl | Ruth Harrington | Chadwick Pictures | Lost film | |
| Love Me and the World Is Mine | Mitzel | Universal Pictures | Copies held at the Cinematheque Royale de Belgique and Danish Film Institute | |
| Cheating Cheaters | Nan Carey | Universal Pictures | Lost film | |
| 1928 | The Big City | Helen | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | Lost film; Trailer survives |
| The Desert Bride | Diane Duval | Columbia Pictures | Lost film | |
| The Masked Angel | Betty | Chadwick Pictures | Lost film | |
| Life's Mockery | Kit Miller/Isabelle Fullerton | Chadwick Pictures | Copy held at the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée | |
| Court Martial | Belle Starr | Columbia Pictures | Preserved at the Museum of Modern Art Segments filmed in Technicolor but no longer survive | |
| The Docks of New York | Mae | Paramount Famous Players-Lasky | ||
| 1929 | Scarlet Seas | Rose | First National Pictures | Copy held at the Cineteca Italiana |
Sound Films: 1928–1948
Scarlet Seas, 1928, released with music and sound effects
Virtuous Husband, 1931
| Year | Title | Role | Studio(s) / Distributor(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1928 | The Barker | Carrie | First National Pictures | Part-talkie Copy held at the UCLA Film and Television Archive Nomination—Academy Award for Best Actress |
| 1929 | Weary River | Alice Gray | First National Pictures | Part-talkie |
| On with the Show | Nita | Warner Bros. | Filmed in Technicolor;first all-talking, all-color picture; survives in black and white, color fragments exist | |
| The Time, the Place and the Girl | Doris Ward | Warner Bros. | Lost film Soundtrack exists | |
| Street Girl | Frederika Joyzelle | RKO Radio Pictures | First film made by RKO | |
| Skin Deep | Sadie Rogers | Warner Bros. | Lost film Soundtrack survives | |
| The Great Gabbo | Mary | Sono Art-World Wide Pictures | Originally contained sequences in Multicolor | |
| Woman to Woman | Deloryce/Lola | Woolf & Freedman Film Service | ||
| The Show of Shows | Herself | Warner Bros. | Originally shot in Technicolor | |
| Blaze o' Glory | Helen Williams | Sono Art-World Wide Pictures | Lost film; Soundtrack survives | |
| 1930 | The Case of Sergeant Grischa | Babka | RKO Radio Pictures | Lost film |
| Isle of Escape | Stella | Warner Bros. | Lost film Fragment totaling 40 seconds survives | |
| Those Who Dance | Kitty | Warner Bros. | ||
| The Czar of Broadway | Connie Colton | Universal Pictures | Copy held at the Library of Congress | |
| Midnight Mystery | Sally Wayne | RKO Radio Pictures | ||
| Inside the Lines | Jane Gershon | RKO Radio Pictures | ||
| The Spoilers | Cherry Malotte | Paramount Pictures | ||
| She Got What She Wanted | Mahyna | Tiffany Pictures | Lost film | |
| The Boudoir Diplomat | Helene | Universal Pictures | ||
| 1931 | The Lady Refuses | June | RKO Radio Pictures | |
| The Virtuous Husband | Inez Wakefield | Universal Pictures | ||
| Three Who Loved | Helga Larson Hanson | RKO Radio Pictures | ||
| The Gay Diplomat | Baroness Alma Corri | RKO Radio Pictures | ||
| 1932 | The Silver Lining | Kate Flynn | United Artists | |
| Guilty or Not Guilty | Maizie | Monogram Pictures | Lost film | |
| 1933 | West of Singapore | Lou | Monogram Pictures | Lost film |
| Destination Unknown | Ruby Smith | Universal Pictures | ||
| Notorious But Nice | Millie Sprague | Chesterfield Pictures | ||
| 1935 | Manhattan Butterfly | Cameo Pictures | ||
| False Pretenses | Clarissa Stanhope | Chesterfield Pictures | ||
| 1936 | August Weekend | Ethel Ames | Chesterfield Pictures | |
| Laughing Irish Eyes | Molly | Republic Pictures | ||
| The Millionaire Kid | Gloria Neville | Reliable Pictures | ||
| The Drag-Net | Mollie Cole | Burroughs-Tarzan Pictures | ||
| Hollywood Boulevard | Betty | Paramount Pictures | ||
| Bulldog Edition | Billie Blake aka Aggie | Republic Pictures | ||
| Killer at Large | Kate | Columbia Pictures | ||
| Two Minutes to Play | 'Fluff' Harding | Victory Pictures | ||
| 1937 | Circus Girl | Carlotta | Reliable Pictures | |
| God's Country and the Man | Roxey Moore | Monogram Pictures | ||
| Federal Bullets | Sue, Gang Moll | Monogram Pictures | ||
| 1938 | Blondes at Work | Blanche Revelle | Warner Bros. | |
| The Port of Missing Girls | Chicago | Monogram Pictures | ||
| A Slight Case of Murder | Loretta | Warner Bros. | ||
| Torchy Blane in Panama | Kitty | Warner Bros. | ||
| Two Gun Justice | Kate | Monogram Pictures | ||
| The Beloved Brat | Eleanor Sparks | Warner Bros. | uncredited | |
| Religious Racketeers | Ada Bernard | |||
| Under the Big Top | Marie | Monogram Pictures | ||
| 1939 | Hotel Imperial | Soubrette | Paramount Pictures | uncredited |
| News Is Made at Night | Kitty Truman | 20th Century Fox | ||
| Cowboys from Texas | Belle Starkey | Republic Pictures | ||
| 1940 | Cafe Hostess | Cafe Hostess | Columbia Pictures | Uncredited |
| Strange Cargo | Suzanne | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | Uncredited | |
| Mad Youth | Lucy Morgan | Willis Kent Production | ||
| Laughing at Danger | Mrs. Van Horn | Monogram Pictures | ||
| 1941 | Mr. & Mrs. Smith | Gertie | RKO Radio Pictures | |
| Roar of the Press | Mrs. Thelma Tate | Monogram Pictures | ||
| Invisible Ghost | Mrs. Kessler | Monogram Pictures | ||
| Zis Boom Bah | Mame | Monogram Pictures | Uncredited | |
| Escort Girl | Ruth Ashley | |||
| 1943 | Danger! Women at Work | Madame Sappho | Producers Releasing Corporation | |
| 1946 | Claudia and David | 20th Century Fox | Uncredited | |
| Her Adventurous Night | Miss Spencer | Universal Pictures | ||
| 1947 | Hard Boiled Mahoney | Selena Webster | Monogram Pictures | |
| Second Chance | Mrs. Davenport | 20th Century Fox | ||
| 1948 | Here Comes Trouble | Martha Blake | United Artists |
External links
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.