The Constant Woman

{{short description|1933 film}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2021}}

{{more citations needed|date=May 2019}}

{{Infobox film

| name = The Constant Woman

| image = Cover of the movie The Constant Woman.jpg

| caption =

| director = Victor Schertzinger

| producer = Victor Schertzinger (producer)

| writer = Eugene O'Neill (play Recklessness)
Warren Duff (adaptation and dialogue) and
F. Hugh Herbert (adaptation and dialogue)

| narrator =

| starring = Conrad Nagel
Leila Hyams
Claire Windsor

| music =

| cinematography = Arthur Edeson

| editing = Rose Loewinger

| distributor = Sono Art-World Wide Pictures

| released = {{Film date|1933}}

| runtime = 76 minutes (American original release)
70 minutes (American reissue)

| country = United States

}}

The Constant Woman (1933), also known as Auction in Souls and Hell in a Circus, is an American Pre-Code film directed by Victor Schertzinger. It is based on the 1913 Eugene O'Neill 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