Betty Compson Movies

Silent star Betty Compson had her own production company, and it was responsible for this exotic but somewhat overwrought drama, based on a story by Perley Poore Sheehan. Celia Thaxter (Compson) is an American vaudeville actress who is on a journey to Egypt. On the voyage, she becomes engaged to Reginald Stanhope (Gerald Pring). Once they reach the Sahara desert, the couple becomes part of a treasure hunt led by another passenger, Kelim Pasha (Macey Harlam), a native of the region. During the trek, Pasha starts coming on to Celia. Stanhope does nothing to help her and it turns out that he was merely a tool of Pasha's. Ultimately, Stanhope forsakes Celia, who finds her virtue, if not her life, in grave danger. She is saved only by another woman in the party, who kills Pasha. Celia finds true romance at last with an American whose life she had saved while on the steamer. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

In the days before air-conditioned theaters, this action-packed tale of the frozen Northwest was a welcome summer release. Its subject matter -- bootlegging -- was also a popular one in the days of the Volstead Act, better known as Prohibition. Sergeant Tom Flaherty of the Northwest Mounted (Tom Moore) is in love with Jen Galbraith (Betty Compson). One significant factor, however, impedes their romance -- Jen's father Peter Galbraith and brother Val (J. Farrell MacDonald and Casson Ferguson, respectively), are whiskey-runners, and Flaherty is duty-bound to arrest them. When she knows that Flaherty is on her way to her father's tavern, she tries to warn them, but fails. Flaherty nabs both men, who are released on bail. While waiting to be tried, Galbraith plans one last run. While trying to get it under way, Val gets in a fight with Snow Devil, a stool pigeon for the Mounties (Sidney D'Albrook). He kills Snow Devil and Flaherty is ordered to track him down. Flaherty stops at the Galbraith tavern to deliver orders involving Val's arrest and is drugged. Jen, not realizing the contents of the order, puts on his Mountie outfit and goes through a blizzard to deliver them herself. Flaherty, however, finds himself in a situation where he saves the lives of Val and Galbraith, and he and Jen are reunited. This picture was adapted from the Sir Gilbert Parker novel, She of the Triple Chevron
~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Depending on the source, this is either the last or next-to-last picture directed by William Desmond Taylor, who was mysteriously murdered two months before it was released (in fact, one of its stars, Theodore Kosloff, talked to police about an encounter Taylor had with a strange man during filming). Historically, that is perhaps the most interesting aspect of this romantic melodrama; its storyline involved the Great War, which was no longer popular subject matter (the war had been over for over three years and people were tired of it). In addition the plot, which relies a awful lot on coincidence, often has to be explained in the title cards. Nevertheless, Taylor did a competent, though not outstanding job, as he did on most of his films -- if not for his murder, his name would probably have faded into oblivion. To evade the police Genelle (Betty Compson), an Apache (member of the Parisian underworld), joins the Red Cross as a nurse. Her experiences change her for the better and at the war's end she decides to start over again in America under the name Joan Parker. While attending a garden party she runs into a former accomplice, Gaspard (Kosloff), who is also parading around under an assumed name. The reason for his identity change, however, is more sinister -- he's after an extremely valuable emerald, known as "the green temptation," which is owned by the hostess, Mrs. Duyker (Betty Brice). Gaspard tries to get Joan to help him and when she refuses, he exposes her dark past. Luckily a Scotland Yard man, John Allenby (Mahlon Hamilton) just happens to be in attendance and he is an admirer of Joan's. When Gaspard goes to snatch the jewel Allenby shoots him dead. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This drama was based on Clyde Fitch's play The Woman in the Case, which was originally filmed in 1916 starring Pauline Frederick). Like Frederick, Betty Compson as Margaret has a tough time standing out next to the flashier supporting role of Clara, here played by Cleo Ridgely. Although Margaret (Compson) and Julian Rolfe (William T. Carleton) are deeply in love, Rolfe has a bit of a past. At one time he had befriended Clara Foster (Ridgely), a woman of the streets. When he discovers that his ward Phil Long (Casson Ferguson) is about to wed Clara, he tries to stop him. But he finds that Long and Clara have already married, so he heads back home. When Phil is found murdered, Rolfe is arrested and tried for the crime. Every action is taken to save him from conviction but it looks like he's headed for the electric chair. Margaret, desperate to save her husband, disguises herself as a woman of Clara's profession and wins her trust. She manages to get Clara to confess that it was she who committed the murder, and Rolfe is set free. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

A week after Vitagraph released its own version of the James M. Barrie story, Paramount came out with this one, starring Betty Compson. Compson, however, made a better showing as Lady Babbie than Vitagraph's star, Alice Calhoun. On the other hand, George Hackathorne, as Gavin Dishart, the "little minister," shows more authority but a bit less sex appeal than Vitagraph's James Morrison. Babbie is known in the Scottish town of Thrums as a fiery Gypsy girl, and they are scandalized when their minister, Dishart, falls in love with her. But Babbie is really the ward of Lord Rintoul (Edwin Stevens), and when the truth comes out -- that she is actually Lady Barbara -- the couple are able to wed. In addition to Vitagraph's version, this story was filmed twice before in the 1910s, and then as a talkie in 1934, with Katherine Hepburn. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This dramatic adventure finds the flirtatious Cherry O'Day (Betty Compson) as the daughter of the Shanghai saloon keeper Terrence (Spottiswood Aitken). She works in the dive and entertains the patrons, sending them away after they cease to amuse her. Cherry falls for Gordon Deane (Milton Sills), the American writer and adventurer who barely notices her. When her father dies, she marries banker William Blaine (Joseph Kilgore). MacGregor (Mitchell Lewis) is the unrefined sailor who vows to return from a year at sea to marry the disinterested Cherry. The marriage crumbles, and Cherry is shipwrecked on an island with a lighthouse where she meets Gordon, MacGregor, and a financially ruined young man. The young man and MacGregor engage in a fierce battle over Cherry on the deck of the lighthouse high above the jagged rocks below. She watches in horror as the rail breaks and both men fall to their deaths. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

"Campus Carmen," "As Luck Would Have It" and "Her Bridal Nightmare" are the silent short stories featured in this series from producer Mack Sennett. Performances include silent screen stars Carole Lombard, Colleen Moore and Betty Compson. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

Monroe Salisbury is Naval Lieutenant George Blenton, who has a fatal attraction to alcohol. His drinking causes him to lose his fiancée, Jane Ravenslee (Betty Compson), when he behaves badly at a military reception. He doesn't take this as the cue to tone down his alcohol consumption, and during another drunken bout, he loses a naval code book which falls into the hands of the enemy. For this careless and shameful act, Blenton is expected to kill himself. When he refuses, he is put ashore on Tafofu, a remote tropical island. He lives with a native woman who eventually discards him, but then he meets another girl, Lehula, who aids him in his regeneration. Jane, meanwhile, has realized that she still loves Blenton, and goes looking for him. Her ship is torpedoed and she is taken prisoner on the attacking submarine. But she still manages to make her way to Tafofu, where she finds her former fiancé has completely regenerated. Although he is killed by a German gun shot, he dies an honorable man. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide