Editing Betty Compson (section)

===Later career===
[[File:Betty Compson on the cover of the 1922 March Motion Picture Classic magazine--Cover artist, Edward Mason Eggleston.jpg|thumb| Betty Compson on the cover of the 1922 March ''Motion Picture Classic'' magazine. Cover artist, Benjamin Eggleston (1867-1937).<ref>{{cite book |last=Platnick |first=Norman I. |date=February 2017 |title=Lady of Mystery: A Collector's Guide to Edward Eggleston version 3.5 |url=https://enchantmentink.com/edward.php |page=5 |quote=those Motion Picture Classic covers, published from at least July 1921 through August 1922, were actually done by Benjamin Eggleston...}}</ref>]]
Now divorced from Cruze, Compson's career continued to flourish, starring in nine films in 1930 alone. However, her last hit proved to be in ''[[The Spoilers (1930 film)|The Spoilers]]'', alongside [[Gary Cooper]]. 

At a time when silent-era stars with faltering careers chose to retire from the screen rather than face defeat, Betty Compson kept working. She was content to play character parts in major-studio films, as well as leads in lower-budgeted, independent productions. One major film that might have scored a decisive comeback was ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]]'' (1939); she shot a [[Technicolor]] screen test for the role of Belle Watling, but lost the role to [[Ona Munson]]. Compson played a small role in an [[Alfred Hitchcock]] film, ''[[Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941 film)|Mr. & Mrs. Smith]]''.

That same year Compson took the lead in her least prestigious credit, ''[[Escort Girl (film)|Escort Girl]]'', a very-low-budget [[exploitation film]] about sordid partners (Compson and fellow silent-screen veteran [[Wheeler Oakman]]) operating a shady escort agency. She played the role in grand, soap-opera-queen manner, and may have accepted the role for some fast cash, reasoning that mainstream audiences would never see the picture. Only one trade paper deigned to review it: ''The Exhibitor'' rated it a "sexer for houses which can play this type of show. This one is plenty lurid. However, all the cast work hard and earnestly in their roles."<ref>''The Exhibitor'', Nov. 26, 1941, p. 900.</ref> As it happened, ''Escort Girl'' actually helped both Compson and Oakman by letting the film community know they were still active, and extending their careers into the late 1940s.

She became a familiar face at [[Monogram Pictures]], where she worked with [[Bela Lugosi]], [[Jean Parker]], [[Grace Hayes]], and [[The Bowery Boys]]. Compson's last film was the 1948 [[Hal Roach]] comedy ''[[Here Comes Trouble (1948 film)|Here Comes Trouble]]'', filmed in [[Cinecolor]]. After retiring from the screen, she began a cosmetic line and helped her husband run a business called Ashtrays Unlimited.