The Lady Refuses

The Lady Refuses
DVD cover for the film
Directed byGeorge Archainbaud
Screenplay byWallace Smith
Story byGuy Bolton
Robert Milton
Produced byWilliam LeBaron
Bertram Millhauser
StarringBetty Compson
John Darrow
Gilbert Emery
Margaret Livingston
CinematographyLeo Tover
Edited byJack Kitchin
Distributed byRKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • March 8, 1931 (1931-03-08) (US)
Running time
72 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Lady Refuses is a 1931 American pre-Code melodrama film, directed by George Archainbaud, from a screenplay by Wallace Smith, based on an original story by Guy Bolton and Robert Milton. It stars Betty Compson as a destitute young woman on the verge of becoming a prostitute, who is hired by a wealthy man to woo his ne'er-do-well son away from the clutches of a gold-digger (Margaret Livingston). The plot is regarded as risqué enough to appear in at least one collection of pre-Code Hollywood films.