Betty Compson

Acting

Betty Compson

Born March 17, 1897 · Beaver, Utah, USA

Died April 18, 1974 · aged 77

Betty Compson (March 19, 1897 – April 18, 1974) was an American actress and film producer. Most famous in silent films and early talkies, she is best known in her performances in The Docks of New York and The Barker, the latter earning a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Known For

Mr. & Mrs. SmithMr. & Mrs. Smith · 1941
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
6.01941
MovieComedyRomance
Happily married for three years, Ann and David Smith live in New York. One morning Ann asks David if he had to do it over again, would he marry her? To her shock, he answers, "No". Later that day, they separately discover that, due to a legal complication, they are not legally married.
Skin DeepSkin Deep · 1929
Skin Deep
3.31929
MovieCrimeDrama
Skin Deep is a 1929 American talking drama film directed by Ray Enright and starring Monte Blue. It was produced and distributed by the Warner Brothers. It was also released in the U.S. in a silent version for theaters not equipped yet with sound. The film is a remake of a 1922 Associated First National silent film of the same name directed by Lambert Hillyer and starring Milton Sills. All copies of this film are now lost. However, the Vitaphone soundtrack, of music and effects, survive.
Midnight MysteryMidnight Mystery · 1930
Midnight Mystery
5.91930
MovieMysteryCrime
A fog-shrouded house provides the setting for a weekend party prank gone wrong and the resulting murder being blamed on an innocent man.
Here Comes TroubleHere Comes Trouble · 1948
Here Comes Trouble
5.21948
MovieComedy
A blundering rookie reporter runs into some unexpected difficulty when he is assigned to cover the police beat.
Scarlet SeasScarlet Seas · 1928
Scarlet Seas
4.01928
MovieRomanceDrama
A sea captain comes to rescue of a prostitute in Shanghai, who is being run out of town. He takes her aboard his ship and heads out to sea. Not long afterwards the ship sinks but the pair manage to get into a lifeboat before it goes under. They are later picked up by a passing ship, but it turns out that the crew had just mutinied against their captain and taken over the ship.
Virtuous HusbandVirtuous Husband · 1931
Virtuous Husband
8.01931
MovieComedyRomance
When a rich young man marries, he lets the books and letters left him by his dead mother guide his life.
False PretensesFalse Pretenses · 1935
False Pretenses
7.31935
MovieComedyRomance
A girl who's just lost her job meets a drunk millionaire on a bridge who's just lost his money. They go back to his house, and eventually come up with a plan to benefit them both: he'll scrounge enough money together to teach her how to be a lady, and then introduce her to his rich friends so she can snag a husband, after which she'll pay him a finder's fee. Complications ensue.
Religious RacketeersReligious Racketeers · 1938
Religious Racketeers
7.51938
MovieCrimeMystery
A wealthy young woman, racked with guilt because she wasn't there when her mother died, is so desperate to contact her that she gets involved with a phony mystic who promises to put her in touch with her mother's spirit, but who is really after her money. A reporter who loves the young woman sets out to expose the phony "psychic" for the charlatan he is.

Movies

Mr. & Mrs. SmithMr. & Mrs. Smith · 1941
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
6.01941
MovieComedyRomance
Happily married for three years, Ann and David Smith live in New York. One morning Ann asks David if he had to do it over again, would he marry her? To her shock, he answers, "No". Later that day, they separately discover that, due to a legal complication, they are not legally married.
Skin DeepSkin Deep · 1929
Skin Deep
3.31929
MovieCrimeDrama
Skin Deep is a 1929 American talking drama film directed by Ray Enright and starring Monte Blue. It was produced and distributed by the Warner Brothers. It was also released in the U.S. in a silent version for theaters not equipped yet with sound. The film is a remake of a 1922 Associated First National silent film of the same name directed by Lambert Hillyer and starring Milton Sills. All copies of this film are now lost. However, the Vitaphone soundtrack, of music and effects, survive.
Midnight MysteryMidnight Mystery · 1930
Midnight Mystery
5.91930
MovieMysteryCrime
A fog-shrouded house provides the setting for a weekend party prank gone wrong and the resulting murder being blamed on an innocent man.
Here Comes TroubleHere Comes Trouble · 1948
Here Comes Trouble
5.21948
MovieComedy
A blundering rookie reporter runs into some unexpected difficulty when he is assigned to cover the police beat.
Scarlet SeasScarlet Seas · 1928
Scarlet Seas
4.01928
MovieRomanceDrama
A sea captain comes to rescue of a prostitute in Shanghai, who is being run out of town. He takes her aboard his ship and heads out to sea. Not long afterwards the ship sinks but the pair manage to get into a lifeboat before it goes under. They are later picked up by a passing ship, but it turns out that the crew had just mutinied against their captain and taken over the ship.
Virtuous HusbandVirtuous Husband · 1931
Virtuous Husband
8.01931
MovieComedyRomance
When a rich young man marries, he lets the books and letters left him by his dead mother guide his life.
False PretensesFalse Pretenses · 1935
False Pretenses
7.31935
MovieComedyRomance
A girl who's just lost her job meets a drunk millionaire on a bridge who's just lost his money. They go back to his house, and eventually come up with a plan to benefit them both: he'll scrounge enough money together to teach her how to be a lady, and then introduce her to his rich friends so she can snag a husband, after which she'll pay him a finder's fee. Complications ensue.
Religious RacketeersReligious Racketeers · 1938
Religious Racketeers
7.51938
MovieCrimeMystery
A wealthy young woman, racked with guilt because she wasn't there when her mother died, is so desperate to contact her that she gets involved with a phony mystic who promises to put her in touch with her mother's spirit, but who is really after her money. A reporter who loves the young woman sets out to expose the phony "psychic" for the charlatan he is.
Eve's SecretEve's Secret · 1925
Eve's Secret
9.01925
MovieComedyDrama
Eve's Secret is that she's not the elegant society woman she seems to be. In fact, Eve is an unkempt country girl who's been "transformed," Pygmalion style, by European duke Poltava.
Strange CargoStrange Cargo · 1940
Strange Cargo
7.01940
MovieDramaRomance
Convicts escaping from Devil's Island come under the influence of a strange Christ-like figure.
The Show of ShowsThe Show of Shows · 1929
The Show of Shows
6.61929
MovieMusic
Now hear this. The studio that gave the cinema its voice offered 1929 audiences a chance to see and hear multiple silent-screen favorites for the first time in a gaudy, grandiose music-comedy-novelty revue that also included Talkie stars, Broadway luminaries and of course, Rin-Tin-Tin. Frank Fay hosts a jamboree that, among its 70+ stars, features bicyclers, boxing champ Georges Carpentier, chorines in terpsichore kickery, sister acts, Myrna Loy in two-strip Technicolor as an exotic Far East beauty, John Barrymore in a Shakespearean soliloquy (adding an on-screen voice to his legendary profile for the first time) and Winnie Lightner famously warbling the joys of Singing in the Bathtub. Watch, rinse, repeat!
Those Who DanceThose Who Dance · 1930
Those Who Dance
6.21930
MovieCrimeDrama
A policeman doubles as a gunman to get in with the mob.
The Drag NetThe Drag Net · 1936
The Drag Net
5.41936
MovieCrimeDrama
A playboy takes a job as an assistant district attorney, finds himself up against a tough crime boss and his gang.
Bulldog EditionBulldog Edition · 1936
Bulldog Edition
4.31936
MovieActionCrime
Two rival newspapers are engaged in a circulation battle, complicated by the fact that a vicious gangster inserts himself into the middle of it. Also complicating matters is that one newspaper's editor and circulation director are competing for the affections of a pretty blonde reporter.
The Wise GuyThe Wise Guy · 1926
The Wise Guy
7.01926
MovieDramaRomance
A carnival huckster who decides to turn pennies into dollars by passing himself off as a hellfire-and-brimstone evangelist.
The Millionaire KidThe Millionaire Kid · 1936
The Millionaire Kid
6.01936
MovieDramaRomance
The Millionaire Kid is young Tommy Neville whose wealthy parents, Thomas and Gloria Neville are preparing to fight it out in divorce court.Tommy runs away from home. The private detective assigned to watch him tells Mrs. Neville he has been kidnapped. She immediately suspects her husband. Meanwhile, Tommy is selling newspapers in another city. He is attacked by a bully, and is rescued by gangster Terry Mallon and his daughter Kitty. Unaware of his identity, they take him to their beach home. Reporter Breezy Benson is sent to interview Mrs. Neville about the divorce, and is fired when she won't talk to him. He meets Kitty at the beach and is intrigued by her. He meets her father, who is curious but not suspicious as news of the alleged kidnapping has not been reported.
Isle of EscapeIsle of Escape · 1930
Isle of Escape
6.51930
MovieDrama
On a South Sea island, Stella operates a hotel for her mother, who is constantly drunk on liquor smuggled by Shane, the principal trader and virtual dictator of the island. Dave Wade, exhausted from the heat, lands on the shore near the hotel and reports having escaped from a nearby cannibal island. Stella has her servants, Manua and Loru, care for him, but Shane, to whom she is married but with whom she has never lived, orders him taken to his house, intent on stealing his gold. In a drunken orgy, Shane takes the gold, provoking a fight in which Stella aids Wade. When Ma Blackney dies and Stella recovers the gold, she suggests they go to another island and establish a trading business; but because of a misunderstanding, Stella is kidnaped by the natives and taken to the cannibal island. Disregarding their differences, Wade and Shane join forces and go to the island; Shane sacrifices himself to stall the cannibals while Stella and Wade flee to the sea.
The White ShadowThe White Shadow · 1924
The White Shadow
7.51924
MovieDrama
In Paris, a wild girl becomes possessed by the soul of her twin who died to save her life.
The Docks of New YorkThe Docks of New York · 1928
The Docks of New York
6.91928
MovieDramaRomance
A blue-collar worker on New York's depressed waterfront finds his life changed after he saves a woman attempting suicide.
A Slight Case of MurderA Slight Case of Murder · 1938
A Slight Case of Murder
6.41938
MovieComedyCrime
Former bootlegger Remy Marco has a slight problem with foreclosing bankers, a prospective son-in-law, and four hard-to-explain corpses.
Cheating CheatersCheating Cheaters · 1927
Cheating Cheaters
7.01927
MovieComedyCrime
Nan Carey ( Betty Compson ), a shoplifter, is caught by the police but acquitted through the influence of Lazare ( Lucien Littlefield ), a crooked lawyer, who places her with a gang of crooks. Posing as the Brockton family, they move to a seaside home, where they plan to steal the jewel collection of the Palmers, their neighbours. Nan wins the confidence of the family by flirting with Tom ( Kenneth Harlan ), who becomes infatuated and wants to go away with her, but she refuses him. Tom is caught red-handed in the Brockton mansion attempting to steal their jewels while Nan is making a success of the Palmer robbery.
Invisible GhostInvisible Ghost · 1941
Invisible Ghost
5.31941
MovieHorrorCrime
The town's leading citizen becomes a homicidal maniac after his wife deserts him.
West of SingaporeWest of Singapore · 1933
West of Singapore
10.01933
MovieDrama
Tropical "heat" drives a man into the arms of a disreputable tramp, making things tough for the woman who really loves him.
No Sleep on the DeepNo Sleep on the Deep · 1934
No Sleep on the Deep
10.01934
MovieComedyRomance
A playboy's affairs on an ocean liner are making all the men on the ship angry. One husband, whose wife has been romanced by the Romeo, decides to impersonate him. Meanwhile, several other men are looking for the playboy so that they can horse-whip him.