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Betty Compson filmography

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Betty Compson, aboard a ship, 1920s.

This page includes Betty Compson's (March 19, 1897 – April 18, 1974) known film appearances from 1915 to 1948.

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

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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
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

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Betty Compson, 1921
Betty Compson, 1921
At the End of the World 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

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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 film
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. (*This is debatable as some historians say this is an error and the film is still lost.)
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

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Scarlet Seas, 1928, released with music and sound effects
The 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
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