''The Constant Woman'' (1933), also known as ''Auction in Souls'' and ''Hell in a Circus'', is an American

Pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was an era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry that occurred between the widespread adoption of sound in film in the late 1920s and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship gui ...

film directed by

Victor Schertzinger Victor L. Schertzinger (April 8, 1888 – October 26, 1941) was an American composer, film director, film producer, and screenwriter. His films include ''Paramount on Parade'' (co-director, 1930 in film, 1930), ''Something to Sing About (1937 fi ...

. It is based on the 1913

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of Realism (theatre), realism, earlier associated with ...

play ''Recklessness''.

Plot

Marlene Underwood is a star circus performer, whose husband Walt buys the circus while their son Jimmie worships everything his mother does. Marlene leaves them both to go join a larger show, then is killed in a fire, resulting in Walt going into a downward spiral of alcohol and sorrow. A woman called Lou helps restore Walt's faith in human nature, but she is resented by young Jimmie, who feels she is trying to take his mother's place. Walt gets back on his feet, but now must try to stop Jimmie from joining the circus himself.

Cast

Conrad Nagel John Conrad Nagel (March 16, 1897 – February 24, 1970) was an American film, stage, television and radio actor. He was considered a famous matinée idol and leading man of the 1920s and 1930s. He was given an Honorary Academy Award in 1940, a ...

as Walt Underwood * Leila Hyams as Lou * Tommy Conlon as Jimmie Underwood * Claire Windsor as Marlene Underwood * Stanley Fields as "Beef" *

Fred Kohler Fredrick Louis Kohler (April 20, 1888 – October 28, 1938) was an American actor. Career Fred Kohler was born in Kansas City, Missouri or in Dubuque, Iowa. As a teen, he began to pursue a career in vaudeville, but worked other jobs to suppor ...

as Bouncer * Alexander Carr as J.J. Brock * Robert Ellis as Leading Man *

Lionel Belmore Lionel Belmore (12 May 1867 – 30 January 1953) was an English character actor and director on stage for more than a quarter of a century. Life and career Onstage, Belmore appeared with Wilson Barrett, Sir Henry Irving, William Faversham, Lil ...

as Character Man * Ruth Clifford as Floozie

External links

* * 1933 films 1933 romantic drama films American black-and-white films American films based on plays Films based on works by Eugene O'Neill American romantic drama films Films directed by Victor Schertzinger Circus films Films with screenplays by F. Hugh Herbert 1930s American films {{1930s-romantic-drama-film-stub