''Woman to Woman'' is a 1929 British

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by Victor Saville and starring

Betty Compson Betty Compson (born Eleanor Luicime Compson; March 19, 1897 – April 18, 1974) was an American actress and film producer who got her start during Hollywood's silent era. She is best known for her performances in ''The Docks of New York'' and ...

George Barraud George Barraud (17 December 1889, in Paddington, London, England – January 1970, in London, England) was a British film actor. Selected filmography * '' Little Old New York'' (1923) * '' Flaming Youth'' (1923) * '' The Wolf Man'' (1924) * ''Ne ...

and

Juliette Compton Juliette Compton (May 3, 1899 – March 19, 1989) was an American actress whose career began in the silent film era and concluded with ''That Hamilton Woman'' in 1941. Career Compton was born in Columbus, Georgia, on May 3, 1899. She was a ...

. It is an adaptation of the 1921 play '' Woman to Woman'' by Michael Morton which had already been made in 1923 into a now-

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

. The 1929 version survives and unrestored copies are available on unofficial

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

s and

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Plot

During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, a British officer - David Compton (

) - on leave from the trenches in Paris falls in love with and has a liaison of three days with a French performing artist: Deloryse/Lola (

). He proposes to her and tells her to get ready for the wedding in an hour. He rushes to search for the English church. On the way he meets his superior, who tells him that he has to report immediately, they have to leave Paris. He doesn't even have the time to see his fiancé again. After returning to fight on the front, he suffers from shell shock and forgets everything that happened in the last four years. After recovering he goes back to his wealthy life of rich industrialist, marries a British Socialite, with whom he runs entirely separate lives. She is the one to invite Deloryse to London to dance on one of her charity events. While dancing and singing on the stage she sees him in a loge. During her second number, where she sings the same song of when he met her in Paris, he finally has a flash back of the song and the singer. After the performance he sends her a notice that he wants to see her. She's very excited, but when Doctor Gavron ( Winter Hall) comes to see her, he measures her pulse and tells her, that she has to give up the stage, as the strain might kill her, even if she dances once more. Then David comes. He meets her and his son Davey (

Georgie Billings Georgie may refer to: People * Georgie Born (b. 1955), British musician and academic * Georgie Davis (b. 1969), artist name of the Dutch singer Kees Rietveld * Georgie Friedrichs, Australian rugby sevens player * Georgie Glen, Scottish actress * Ge ...

). But he is now married to a British Socialite: Vesta Compton (

), who never wanted children, to the big regret of her husband.Cook p.47 He tells his wife, that he wants to adopt a boy. She doesn't want to know anything about it. His wife tells him that she will never give him a divorce. Lola wants then to give his son to David's wife, as she understands that there is no future for her and David, but Vesta refuses. Then David wants to stay with Lola and his son and take all the consequences. They plan to leave for Paris that evening, as Davey has his birthday the next day. But Vesta comes to see Lola "from woman to woman" and to tell her that she would ruin David socially, if she lives with him without having him divorced. She gives up little David to bring him to his home. Afterwards she has a breakdown. Soon afterwards she has to perform again for another of Vesta's charity events and visits her sleeping son a last time. When she dances and falls dead at the end, they find out she will never dance again, she dies.

Cast

– Deloryse / Lola *

– David Compton *

– Vesta Compton * Margaret Chambers – Florence * Reginald Sharland – Hal * Georgie Billings – Davey Compton * Winter Hall – Doctor Gavron

References

Bibliography

* Cook, Pam (ed.). ''Gainsborough Pictures''. Cassell, 1997.

External links

*
''Woman to Woman'' (1929) at SilentEraAllMovie/synopsis for ''Woman to Woman''Sheet music cover of song sung in the film
{{Authority control 1929 films 1929 drama films Films directed by Victor Saville Tiffany Pictures films British drama films British black-and-white films Films produced by Victor Saville Films set in London Films set in Paris 1920s English-language films 1920s British films