Betty Compson filmography
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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[edit]
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| 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[edit]
Silent Films: 1918–1929[edit]
| 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[edit]
| 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 |