Betty Compson Movies

John Gilbert was one of MGM's top stars when he appeared this melodrama. Playing against his usual matinee idol type, Gilbert plays a tough and restless wanderer. Jerry Fay (Gilbert) and Red McCue (Ernest Torrence) are fierce but not unfriendly rivals who run into each other in various ports. They meet up once again in New York to discover that they have both become bootleggers. Fay has just loaded up his speedboat with rum when he is pursued by the coast guard. He hides out in a home on the seashore, and Jane, the girl living there (Joan Crawford), threatens to call the cops. To prevent her from turning him in, Fay kidnaps her and takes her to his ship. McCue and his men, disguised as revenuers, hijack Fay's boat, and the two men find themselves face to face once again. A drinking contest between the two of them turns into a vicious battle. Fay recaptures the boat and turns it in to save Jane. Jane, who has fallen in love with the wounded Fay, cradles him in her arms. Crawford, whose star was still very much on the ascendant, would appear with Gilbert again in 1928's Four Walls. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This witty Max Marcin play became an entertaining vehicle for Clara Kimball Young in 1919; in 1927, it became an entertaining program flick for Universal Studios. Here, Betty Compson takes on the part of Nan Carey, the female detective who's out to trap a gang of crooks. The gang is planning to rob a group of wealthy people. What they don't know is that this supposedly rich family is also a gang of crooks with robbery on their minds. Romance transpires between Nan and Tom Palmer (Kenneth Harlan), an unwilling member of the rival gang. This comic crime thriller was nicely done with many amusing touches. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

While this adventure tale, based on the play by Adolf Paul, was not true to the life of Lola Montez (in fact, the settings look far more modern than the mid-1800 period in which it was supposed to take place), it still has a lot of dramatic flair. Lola (Betty Compson) is loved by many men but the two most significant ones are Portuguese premier Don Sebastian (Henry Kolker) and Ricardo Madons (Edmund Lowe), leader of the opposing royalists. Don Sebastian has set a price on Madons' head, but Madons manages to abduct Lola and forces her to marry him. Lola sends for help and Don Sebastian's men arrest Madons. When Lola learns that he is to be shot, however, she realizes that she loves him after all and comes to his aid. She takes a bullet meant for him and almost dies from the wound. When she recovers, she and Madons escape across the border. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Olympe (Betty Compson) is a cabaret dancer who offers her services to France when her country goes to war. She becomes a spy and provides valuable intelligence information during World War I by winning the confidence of a German officer. Hugh Warren (Wallace MacDonald) is the American soldier who falls for Olympe. She allows him to believe she is a simple peasant and reveals nothing of her career as a spy. The two fall in love and are married, but the villainous German agent De Montinrich (Theodore Kosloff) reveals to her husband's family that she is a tawdry club dancer. Unable to reveal her role in espionage, Olympe is ostracized by her friends and family. When the French government honors Olympe for her wartime bravery, her family no longer considers her a blemish on their sterling reputation. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Having tackled a wagon train in the immensely popular The Covered Wagon (1922), James Cruze directed this would-be epic centered on the famed Pony Express. This time, however, audiences stayed away in droves. Cruze's old-fashioned staging was foremost to blame. He portrayed pretty vistas but little movement in his epics and Pony Express of course even lacked the novelty aspects that had made "Wagon" a box-office success. Austrian-born Ricardo Cortez starred as a gambler who joins the delivery service during the time of California's impending statehood. There is the obligatory Indian attack and a nasty villain played to the hilt by George Bancroft. Still and all, this silent version is superior in almost all aspects to the even more slow-moving 1953 remake starring Charlton Heston. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Because of a trite story, this drama isn't up to director William C. De Mille's usual high standards. Mary (Betty Compson) weds wealthy Norman Carter (Robert Edeson) only to provide a home for her invalid father (the always entertaining Theodore Roberts). When she visits friends at a mountain lodge, she meets John Talbot (Theodore Von Eltz), who is much closer to her age, and they fall in love. Talbot never learns her last name, but knows she is married so he tries to forget her. Later on he goes to work for Carter and confides in him. Carter insists on bringing him home so that he can forget his infatuation. Unfortunately, he's face-to-face with her the moment he reaches the Carter residence. Although they try to hide it, their love is clear to both Carter and his sister, Laura (Kathlyn Williams). On the night Talbot comes to Mary's room to tell her goodbye, a fire breaks out in the house. The pair are trapped in Mary's room and are discovered by Carter. Carter realizes that Mary will never love him, so he offers to divorce her while Talbot is away in Italy. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Counsel for Defense is set in a graft-ridden town, where the crooked politicians railroad the local doctor (Jay Hunt) into prison. The villains want to take over the town waterworks, and this they can't do if the doctor is nosing around spotting health violations. When a typhoid epidemic inevitably breaks out, the imprisoned doctor's daughter (Betty Compson) launches a reform campaign in the local newspaper. The rascals are thrown out, the doctor's reputation is restored, and the daughter marries the newspaper's editor (House Peters). Filmed in 1925, Counsel for Defense lay on the shelf for over a year before it found a distributor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tully Marshall plays "the Stranger," an outcast who works in a saloon frequented by Peggy Bowlin, a poor girl suffering through hard times (Betty Compson). She finds romance with Larry Darrant (Richard Dix), and her life begins to improve. They make plans to wed and leave England, but when a convict assaults Peggy, Larry gets involved and accidentally kills him. The Stranger is arrested for the murder, but he refuses to declare his innocence because he doesn't want to destroy Peggy's happiness. Larry wants to confess, but his brother Keith (Lewis Stone) has political aspirations and refuses to let him. After the Stranger is sentenced to death, however, Larry insists that he must do what is right and they show up at the scaffold. The Stranger, however, has heart failure just as the noose is being put around his neck and he dies. Larry's secret dies with him, so he and Peggy are free to pursue their dreams. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Novelist Richard Sones (Elliot Dexter) prefers his literary buddies while his wife, Margaret (Betty Compson), prefers a "fast set." Their differences widen even further when suave Ernest Steele (Adolphe Menjou) lends a sympathetic ear and romantic overtures to Margaret. Sones doesn't help the situation when he brings Mona, a prostitute (ZaSu Pitts), to one of Margaret's parties, insisting that she's a professional in a room of amateurs. Margaret decides to divorce Sones, which disturbs the urbane Steele, who did not plan on marrying her. He goes to Sones and gives him a few lessons on how to win back his wife. Sones follows Steele's advice and does just that. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This drama was based on the play by Leon Gordon and Doris Marquette. The title refers to the estate owned by Flagg (Rockliffe Fellowes), a man of great wealth and few morals. He installs chorus girls there until he grows tired of them. His latest fancy, Dorothy Delbridge (Betty Compson), refuses to have anything to do with him, so he has her fired from the show in which she is performing. Eventually she comes around and becomes mistress of his manor. Then she meets Douglas Crawford (Warner Baxter), a fine, upstanding type who incidentally happens to have quite a bit of money. Without telling Crawford of her sordid past, Dorothy marries him. Flagg comes back to haunt her when he attempts to fleece Crawford. Dorothy wrestles with the possibility of telling her husband of her past without realizing that he's already aware of it. Not only does Crawford forgive her past, he thrashes Flagg, who falls over a balcony railing to his death. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

The premise is clichéd -- it's the usual tale of a pretty girl from the sticks trying to break into movies -- but this satire gives it a number of unexpected turns. In addition, just about every star in Hollywood -- not just those at Paramount, the releasing studio -- has a cameo at one point or another during the film's eight reels. Ironically, nearly all of the lead actors are unknowns (although George K. Arthur would become a noted character comedian). Angela Whitaker (Hope Brown) of Centreville is convinced she has a chance in Hollywood -- all her friends tell her so. So she heads West with her Uncle Joel (Luke Cosgrave) in tow. But Angela has no luck in Tinseltown, while her uncle starts landing roles left and right because of his curious image. Eventually the rest of the family, including Angela's sweetheart Lem Lefferts (Arthur), her grandmother (Ruby Lafayette), and her aunt (Eleanor Lawson) come to Hollywood. All Angela's relatives get movie work because they're character types. Finally a screenwriter tries to help Angela out, but Lem winds up landing a role instead. He becomes a star, which suits Angela just fine because she has married him. The couple have twins, and the babies -- not to mention the couple's pet parrot -- wind up in films, while Angela remains at home. The most notable cameo in this picture is Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, who had been shunned in motion pictures since the 1921 scandal surrounding a Labor Day party that allegedly resulted in the death of starlet Virginia Rappe. Here he returns as a man standing in a casting line. When it's his turn to come up to the window, it is shut in his face and a "closed" sign put out. Unfortunately this gag turned out to be all too true; Arbuckle was not seen in front of a camera again until 1932. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This Hawaiian romance was the last picture directed by Julia Crawford Ivers, who also penned the screenplay. Although it was later rumored she left Hollywood after the murder of director William Desmond Taylor (even though she was guiltless, she was embroiled in the scandal), she continued writing screenplays throughout the rest of the silent era. Ivers died in 1930, when sound was still in its infancy. This nicely done picture ended her directing career on a good note. Konia Markham (Betty Compson) is the daughter of an Hawaiian mother and American father. (Hawaii at the time was not yet a state, and wouldn't be for another 36 years.) She and her father, John (Edward Martindel), live on the islands, and when the handsome Bob Rutherford (Edmund Lowe) sails in from the States, she falls madly in love with him. She only discovers that Rutherford is engaged to Ethel Granville (Arline Pretty) when the girl shows up on the island. Konia tracks down a native priest and tries to have him pray Ethel to death (something some native priests were said to be capable of doing). But she repents her action and halts the proceedings just in time. Riddled with guilt, she prepares to throw herself into a volcano. Rutherford comes to her rescue. Ethel, realizing that her fiancé really loves Konia and not her, willingly gives him up. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide