Betty Compson Movies

In this melodramatic blend of romance and adventure set in the South Seas, Stella Blackney (Betty Compson) is married to Tom Shane (Noah Beery), an American exploring and exploiting the region. Stella has grown disenchanted with Tom, and decides to leave him in favor of dashing David Wade (Monte Blue). However, Stella's decision to build a life on her own is seriously hampered when she's captured by angry natives. David and Tom set aside their obvious differences and set out to rescue Stella, but David soon finds himself pursued by seductive native beauty Moira (Myrna Loy). Among the "angry natives" in the supporting cast is Duke Kahanamoku, a gifted swimmer who won medals in the 1912, 1920 and 1924 Olympic games. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Several able silent-screen veterans converge in RKO Radio's Midnight Mystery. Sally (Betty Compson), Tim (Lowell Sherman), Mischa (Ivan Lebedeff) and Paul (Raymond Hatton) are among the shady types whom wealthy Gregory (Hugh Trevor) invites to his isolated island mansion off the coast of Maine. Cut off from the mainland by a fierce storm, the gathered parties begin bickering amongst themselves, culminating in the murder of Mischa. It's up to Sally, Gregory's fiancee and a best-selling author of murder mysteries, to assemble the clues and trick the culprit into confessing. Though Hugh Trevor seems somewhat lost in the leading role, he was in no imminent danger of being dismissed from the film: His aunt was the wife of producer William LeBaron. Midnight Mystery was rather obviously derived from a stage play, in this case Hawk Island by Howard Irving Young. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This third film version of Rex Beach's rugged Yukon novel The Spoilers was also the first talkie adaptation. This time, Gary Cooper and William "Stage" Boyd are cast as gold prospector Glennister and crooked Alaska politician McNamara. In partnership with Dextry (James Kirkwood), Glennister is the proud owner of the Midas gold mine, but McNamara and the corrupt Judge Stillman (Lloyd Ingraham) conspire to gain control of the mine, using legal but highly unethical maneuvers. Preparing to shoot each other full of holes, Glennister and McNamara are temporarily dissuaded by Glenister's sweetheart Helen (Kay Johnson), who suggests that the courts handle the dispute. But saloon owner Cherry Malotte (Betty Compson), jealous of Helen, lies to Glennister, telling him that Helen and McNamara are conspiring to cheat him again. Matters come to a head when Glennister and McNamara settle their differences with a spectacular fistfight. During filming of The Spoilers, the stars of the 1914 version William Farnum and Tom Santschi showed up frequently on the set, ostensibly to serve as "technical advisers" for the climactic set-to (one suspects that their advice was merely for the benefit of the Paramount publicity department). The Rex Beach story would be filmed again in 1942 with John Wayne and Randolph Scott, and yet again in 1955 with Jeff Chandler and Rory Calhoun. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

She Got What She Wanted was director James Cruze's second "special" for Tiffany Pictures in 1930. Betty Compson, previously the female lead of Cruze's The Great Gabbo, stars as Mathyna, the foreign-born girlfriend of vaudeville hoofer Eddie (Lee Tracy). Tired of waiting for Eddie to pop the question, Mathyna marries Boris (Gaston Glass), an aspiring novelist. Soon she gets bored of her housewife status and begins spending time with boorish Dave (Alan Hale) and the ubiquitous Eddie. Leaving Boris in favor of Dave, Mathyna learns to regret her impulsiveness when her new husband gets mixed up with crooks. She ultimately returns to the faithful Boris, while Eddie philosophically soft-shoes out of her life. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This early talkie antique is a backstage musical from Warner Bros. The plot involves the out-of-town tryout of a new musical comedy, and the people who perform therein: a bitchy leading lady (Betty Compson), an arrogant comedy lead (Joe E. Brown), and a starstruck chorus kid (Sally O'Neil). At the very last moment, the leading lady refuses to go on, forcing the producer to put the chorus girl in her place. It turns out that the star's seemingly rotten behavior was deliberately designed to give the chorine her big break. In between several Technicolor musical numbers (now only existing in black-and-white), we hear a lot of pedantic talk about "the show business." On with the Show's sole virtue is the exquisite Ethel Waters, who introduces her hit song "Am I Blue?" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this musical comedy, an egotistical ex-college football star had little time for a plain-jane coed while he was in school. When they later find work at the same investment house, he finally begins to notice her, especially since she excels at the job. The boss is about to fire him when he notices that the fellow has a way of charming women into doing whatever he wants. He decides this is a useful talent and assigns the ex-jock to sell bad bonds to susceptible women. The crooked boss then plans to have the fellow take the fall when the con-game is exposed. Fortunately, the jock's female colleague intervenes and the fellow is able to reimburse the women he cheated. He then gets revenge by selling the bonds to the boss's wife. Songs include: "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now," "Collegiate," "Doin' the Raccoon," "Fashionette," "Jack and Jill," "How Many Times," "Everything I Do I Do for You," and "If You Could Care." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This three hanky melodrama follows the tragic love between a French ballerina and an Englishman during WW I. He is called to war, but before he goes, he promises his pregnant lover that he will return. Unfortunately, he loses his memory in battle and never does. Instead, he goes back to London and marries a wealthy socialite. The ballerina eventually comes to London for a performance. There she encounters her old lover. His memory slowly returns and he is delighted to learn that he has fathered a child because his new wife cannot have children. The loving ballerina takes pity on her and reluctantly gives them her child before she dies. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Based on the oft-filmed play by Kenyon Nicholson, The Barker represented the talking-picture debut of silent-screen favorite Milton Sills (the film itself is a part-talkie, containing 38 minutes' worth of dialogue). Sills is cast as Nifty Miller, veteran sideshow barker for a cheap carnival. Miller is determined that his young son Chris (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) will not follow in his footsteps but will instead attend law school. But Chris cannot help but be drawn to carnival life -- especially when he meets pretty "carney" Lou (Dorothy Mackaill). The film ran into some state-by-state censorship problems due to the scanty costumes worn by the female cast members. Herman Mankiewicz was among the screenwriters of The Barker, which received a latter-day fame of sorts when its crowded opening-credit title was reproduced in the pages of Kevin Brownlow's silent-film retrospective The Parade's Gone By. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A prison melodrama with a heart, Life's Mockery starred Betty Compson as Kit Miller, the daughter of notorious gangster Wolf Miller (Russell Simpson). Fleeing the law, Kit is knocked unconscious and brought to a prison whose warden, John Fullerton (Alec B. Francis, believes that criminals may be completely reformed under the proper environment. Suffering from amnesia, the girl is led to believe that the faint memories from her past are merely part of a feverish nightmare. The warden's son Wade (Theodore von Eltz) falls in love with the girl, but their idyll and her reformation are soon threatened by the re-emergence of Wolf Miller. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The smokily erotic ambience of Josef Von Sternberg's silent Docks of New York is best appreciated on a big theatrical screen--but only if the available print is at the very least second-generation. George Bancroft plays a two-fisted ship's stoker on shore leave. He saves Betty Compson from committing suicide; though the girl displays little gratitude, the inebriated Bancroft impulsively marries her. After he sobers up, Bancroft is prepared to set sail and leave his new wife waiting for him...perhaps forever. The story is secondary to the virtuosity of the direction and camerawork (one scene is framed in the eye of a needle!) Considered by many to be Von Sternberg's greatest film, Docks of New York is a prime example of the silent cinema at its zenith. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having found out that her husband Earle Williams has bought her a diamond-encrusted comb for her birthday, wife Betty Compson is taken aback when Williams presents her with a diamond necklace instead. Hubby truthfully explains that he sold the comb to a friend, but wifey doesn't believe him -- especially when she sees the comb adorning the hair of another woman (Jocelyn Lee). In high dudgeon, Compson walks out on her husband, and it takes the next five reels to straighten everything out. Say it with Diamonds was the final film effort of former matinee idol Earle Williams, who died in 1927. Leading lady Betty Compson remained in films until the late 1940s, playing opposite everyone from Erich Von Stroheim to The Bowery Boys. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide