Why Be Good? (1929) User Reviews (19)

Silent Sounds Spectacular

[wes-connors · 6/10 · 13 October 2015]

On the 50th floor of a modern skyscraper in New York City, handsome young millionaire Neil Hamilton (as Winthrop Peabody Jr.) has a wild party to celebrate a new job managing his father's department store. In a poorer section of town, perky flapper Colleen Moore (as Pert Kelly) dances at fast-motion to "Sweet Georgia Brown" in a Charleston contest. A clear winner, Ms. Moore is also one of the thousand "cuties" employed as a clerk at Peabody's department store. Later, she hooks up with Mr. Hamilton at a hot roadhouse called "The Boiler". Moore angers her parents by arriving home late, but she really lives a virtuous life. However, Moore is late for work and ordered to see the new store manager...

Moore's last silent is very nicely produced, for its star, by John McCormick. Director William A. Seiter and his crew present Moore in a flattering light, and give us a tasteful peak at her underwear in a couple of scenes. Trying to make time with Moore before she meets Hamilton, amorously greasy Louis Natheaux (as Jimmy Alexander) is a stand-out. Carey Wilson's story was a standard for the time. A pretty clerk getting attention from an (ideally, department store) millionaire was a common fantasy. The plot was well-worn, and doesn't fit the "flapper" girl. Mary Pickford and Clara Bow had released finer films on the topic. Moore's best rags-to-riches story is, appropriately, "Ella Cinders" (1926)...

This was Moore's final "silent" film. She transitioned to the "talkies" as well-spoken, but without distinction. Moore was likely hurt by being so closely associated with a bygone era. She was #1 in the industry's "Quigley Poll" of box-office stars for 1926. "Why Be Good" finds its star acting almost purely with the exaggerated silent mannerisms associated with silents. In the past, Moore demonstrated some of the subtly and style which would prove useful in all-talking pictures; but, here, she makes her preference known. The recently re-discovered print of "Why Be Good?" is spectacular, and it survives with its beautifully rendered "Synchronized Musical Score and Sound Effects" track. Let's see more...

****** Why Be Good? (1929-02-28) William A. Seiter ~ Colleen Moore, Neil Hamilton, Louis Natheaux, Bodil Rosing

The epitome of the flapper

[MissSimonetta · 8/10 · 20 March 2016]

No movie better illustrates the inherent contradiction of the Hollywood flapper than Why Be Good? (1929). Colleen Moore is a party girl who wears make-up, bobbed hair, and short skirts. She flirts with young men and has built quite the reputation for herself; however, she (and the film) makes it clear that she is a "good girl" despite everything. Sexual liberation hand in hand with conservative values so that the audience isn't too radicalized.

This quality was my biggest issue with that second most famous of flapper pictures Our Dancing Daughters (1928) with Joan Crawford as the virginal flapper who is held up as an ideal modern girl in comparison with the Anita Page character, who sleeps around and is thus a horrible person who must be punished. Though that film claims to be modern, it upholds Victorian morality with relish. Yet in Why Be Good? the double standard is firmly attacked. While we are assured that Moore is a virgin with some conservative sexual values, the movie stands up against the double standard. When the male love interest is swayed by his sexist father into thinking Moore is trash because she flirts and parties, Moore shoots him down, claiming that if she stayed home and "darned socks" she would have hardly attracted his attention in the first place. In a society where a good girl is labeled a "prude" and a party girl a "tramp," a woman just can't win.

Well not here. In the end, the flapper wins the boy and the day. The message is quite progressive for the time, far ahead of Our Dancing Daughters. It's also more fun, with Moore showing off her charm and comic talent to great effect. She also sports some great playful sex appeal here. The Vitaphone score paired with the film is excellent, giving you a great sense of the time period, all jazz and Charlestons.

I've rambled on enough, so let me make it brief: watch this movie. Colleen Moore is funny and the message quite modern, one society still has not fully taken to heart, even in the 21st century.

Delightful

[gbill-74877 · 8/10 · 11 February 2020]

Lost until the late 1990's and then only restored in 2014, this is a real gem to have found. It's a playful film that evokes the era of the roaring 20's as well as any other, and has a nice bit of feminism in it as well. The two young people (the delightful Colleen Moore and dapper Neil Hamilton) push against the boundary of what was considered acceptable, and more importantly, she sticks up for herself, first with her parents and then with him. Her character, Pert Kelly (what a perfect name) the "hot potato", asserts her freedom with this line to her father:

"Pop, listen to me! This is 1929 - not 1899 - I contribute as much money to this house as you do - and as long as I think it is harmless, I'm going to wear what I like, and do what I like! I want to go out, and dance, and have fun, as long as I can, as much as I can!"

She can take care of herself; when a sleazy guy comes on to her, she plays along but is always in control, but when a guy comes along that she does like (Hamilton), she's not afraid to kiss him first. She's confident, saying to her friends, "Sure, I'm good! I'm just naturally too hot for this old folks' home!" At the same time, we see how her having fun and dancing wildly forces her to beware of being considered a "bad girl", or to be taken advantage of by a man. She just wants to be herself and yet has to thread the needle to be acceptable to everyone around her. This leads to this fantastic line:

"You men! You insist on a girl being just what you want - and then you bawl her (out) for being it."

Unfortunately, the feminist message is a little undercut by the women ("girls") in the office who are late to work putting on pouty, little girl airs to try to seduce the boss, though I confess I found the scene amusing.

The plot is simple but it's loaded with fantastic intertitles featuring 1920's slang, and it's got some nice art deco sets to go along with all the flapper outfits and dancing. While the film is a great time capsule of that era, the scenes of the younger generation struggling against the older are timeless. The fathers of both are shown to be too old-fashioned, but her mother (Bodil Rosing, who is wonderful) is more understanding, and has some really lovely scenes with Moore. In an interview for the film, Moore pointed out the hypocrisy of the older generation by saying "Is it any worse for a girl to call kissing 'necking' and admit she does it, than it was for her mother to call it 'spooning' and deny it?" Hamilton added, "It's all in the point of view... Our parents probably scandalized our grandparents, and our kids will probably look back on us as a lot of old fogies." It seems you can repeat these lines for every generation.

This film marked the end of an era not just for America, but for Colleen Moore, who would only appear in a few sound movies afterwards. She's wonderful.

Colleen Moore's Final Silent Film

[drednm · 7 November 2014]

Colleen Moore stars as Pert Kelly, a sales girl in a department store by day and a jazz baby by night. One night she meets a guy (Neil Hamilton) who happens to be the son of the department store owner. They hit it off, but when she's late for work the following morning, she's called into his office and they discover who they are. She's fired by the store owner, but she thinks the son did it. Rich daddy tries to protect his son from that kind of girl and talks him into testing her by taking her to a hotel to see how she reacts. Is she a good girl? Does it matter? After all, why be good? Moore is terrific as the dance-crazed flapper (who still lives at home with mom and pop). With her signature hair-do and skimpy dresses, she the very picture of the silent flapper. Hamilton is also good as the naïve son. Co-stars include Jack Norton as the drunken boyfriend, Bodil Rosing as the mother, John St. Polis as the father, and Edward Martindel as the store owner. Look fast for Grady Sutton, Mischa Auer, and Jean Harlow among the revelers.

This film was recently released on DVD after a massive effort to restore its video elements from several sources and its excellent Vitaphone soundtrack. After being listed as a lost film for many decades, we now have a shiny new version restored and available.

An unexpectedly modern film which was believed to be lost

[BSKIMDB · 6/10 · 30 April 2022]

This is a simple but charming film showing why Colleen Moore became a star and an incarnation of the Flapper. She plays a working class girl who likes dancing and night life and dates with her boss-to-be (Neil Hamilton) without any of them knowing this. They like each other but will have to deal with doubts on their mutual behavior. The plot is not much, but the acting is fresh, the action follows a good pace and Miss Moore is natural, vivacious and convincing. The rest of the cast is also good, specially Bodil Rosing playing her sympathetic mother.

This film and Synthetic Sin were supposed to be lost but were located in Italy and carefully restored starting in 2012, and finally reissued for us all to enjoy. Thanks to the Vitaphone team, Warner, UCLA and Bologna archives, and to Joe Yranski, a film historian who gave the connection to locate the films. And this one is certainly worth it! The image quality is superior, a pleasure to watch as it should have been in its day. Even for a late silent from 1929 which was released with an added sonorized soundtrack with Vitaphone syncronized discs. This adds plenty of jazz music of the moment. The dialogues (titles), settings and clothes are amazingly modern, with a ceiling mirror ball in the dancing hall far ahead the 70s ones and high heeled sequined shoes. Mischa Auer, Andy Devine and Jean Harlow can be been spotted as extras.

As a whole, highly recommended, and deserving to be known.

Exellent entertainment

[Philipp_Flersheim · 8/10 · 6 February 2022]

The other day I was thinking that as an aspiring movie aficionado I could not spend my whole time stuck with 1920s and -30s films but had to see something different for a change. So I tried 'For a Few Dollars More' (1965). Oh dear. What a relief to return to something as enjoyable as this neat little picture! 'Why Be Good?' is not only a great example of late 1920s film making - it has sound but is no talkie -; it is a film with an attitude and message that continue to resonate. Pert Kelly (Colleen Moore) is a sales girl in a department store and a fun loving character - she regularly wins dancing contests. One night she meets a swell guy, played by Neil Hamilton, for whom she quickly develops feelings (which are returned). The next day it turns out that the guy is Winthrop Peabody, the new Human Resources manager of the store where she works, and what is more, he is the son of the millionaire owner. The problem is the store rules don't allow him romantic relations with sales girls, and his dad soon notices what happened and fires Pert. I liked almost everything about this film, most of all the character of the female lead and the stance the picture takes against double standards: Pert knows men like fun-loving girls but at the same time suspect them of a lack of morals, which is why such girls are no marriage material. Colleen Moore is great in this role. The film is very well-paced, with no dull moments or passages where the plot is sagging. If anything, it is a too short: My impression was that whenever Winthrop hurts Pert, the two of them are reconciled amazingly quickly, and the reconciliation always takes place off screen. The final reconcilation, at the end of the film, becomes evident only when it turns out that they have married (the ending is really rather abrupt). Otherwise: great film, excellent entertainment.

Is she a good girl looking to have a good time or just a good-time girl?

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 15 November 2015]

recently restored--combined missing disk with footage--Vitaphone Project

This film is a great example of a supposedly lost film that was found due to the so-called 'Vitaphone Project'. Because early Vitaphone sound films consisted of both the film footage AND an accompanying record for sound, many movies seemed to be only available as sound discs or film footage. However, with the internet age, the Vitaphone Project has managed to track down BOTH copies of many films and film shorts--the record and film have finally been reunited! So, although "Why Be Good?" has been considered lost for years, here it is---for the first time in many, many decades.

Like many of these early sound films, it really is NOT a talking picture but a silent with a soundtrack. A few songs in the film also are sung live by the actors. Otherwise, it's a traditional silent film. As for the soundtrack, it's actually at times too invasive and generally too loud! I actually wish, at times, there was no soundtrack!

As for the film, it's a romantic comedy about flappers--in particular, Pert Kelly (Colleen Moore). Pert LOVES to party and goes out all the time with her friends in order to dance. One night, she meets a nice guy, Winthrop Peabody Jr. (Neil Hamilton) and they fall in love. Later, she learns that he's her boss at the department store! The problem is that Winthrop Sr. is worried that Pert might be a bit of a slut. After all, she loves to party, loves to dance and is clearly a flapper. So what's next? See the film.

This is a pretty good film and is one of the last silent-style films from Warner Brothers. The story is good and talks about the double- standard for ladies--the need to be fun, adventurous, rather slutty and yet chaste! My only real complaint is the ending--which seems to come rather abruptly.

Odd question, considering just how good this film is

[morrisonhimself · 10/10 · 6 December 2016]

For some reason, most of the Morrisons had to change their names -- or thought they had to change their names -- to become famous.

Kathleen Morrison got into pictures somewhat accidentally, as someone was doing a favor for one of her important relatives. And it was figured that, in six months or so, she'd be tired of movies and go back home.

Ha.

In fact, as Colleen Moore, she became one of the most popular stars of filmdom, and when you see her in "Why Be Good?" you will immediately understand why.

Naturally I might seem prejudiced toward my cousin, but even before I learned she had been born a Morrison, I loved and admired her. In the late lamented Silent Movie Theatre, the great John Hampton presented her "Orchids and Ermine" about every year.

She just stole my heart, even with a very, VERY young Mickey Rooney trying to steal the movie. (In a wonderfully whimsical touch, the then-7-year-old was still "Mickey McGuire" and his character was a Texas midget. And even at 7, he was fully capable of stealing a scene or a whole movie.)

In "Why Be Good?" she plays a character with the appropriate name of "Pert Kelly" (making me think of the long-time actress Pert Kelton).

Pert and perky she was, just totally adorable.

And beautiful.

Colleen Moore could express any emotion, and was an actress dedicated to being a good actress, not just a star.

Her autobiography, "Silent Star," is a very good read, and her fame continues, with a website dedicated to her: https://sites.google.com/site/colleenmooresite/

"Why Be Good?" was presented by Turner Classic Movies on 5 December 2016 as part of a tribute to Vitaphone on its 90th birthday. "Good" was originally produced with synchronized sound on a disc, and its restoration is a story in itself.

"Why Be Good?" is now available, according to the above website, as a DVD and I know I want a copy. It's a good movie, but it's a great performance by and a great chance to see Colleen Moore.

There is a preview clip, and other videos, including supposed full movies of Colleen Moore at YouTube.

Colleen Moore, Flapper

[boblipton · 7/10 · 1 February 2020]

Colleen Moore is a modern girl. She likes drinking and necking and winning dance cups. One evening, she has just won another dance competition at a speakeasy, only for her boyfriend to fall asleep drunk at their table. She heads over to Neil Hamilton's table. He had tried to pick her up earlier, and now he's going to take her home...at 3AM, which worries her mother enough to ask if she's still a good girl.

The next morning, Colleen is fifteen minutes late to her job at the department store. Guess who's the owner's son and the new personnel manager? After Hamilton expresses his interest in Miss Moore to his father, his father expresses concerns about girls these days, with "the drinking, the spooning, the kissing - and - and the broad-mindedness."

Miss Moore's last silent movie has her performing the persona she had established for herself in FLAMING YOUTH. She enjoys the good life, and keeps herself clean, growing angry at the sneers of young men who want the drinking, and the spooning, and the kissing, and the broad-mindedness, but don't want it for their wives. Like many of the flapper movies of the 1920s, it insists that times have changed... but not that much.

Miss Moore is comfortable in the role, while Hamilton comes off as a stuffed shirt. Director William Seiter shows the easy mix of light comedy and social message that would keep him working through his death, and Sidney Hickox's camerawork shows why he was Miss Moore's favorite cinematographer.

WHY BE GOOD? Is not novel nor deep. It's still a very enjoyable movie for one of the 1920s' biggest stars before the talkies and the Depression overwhelmed the movies.

It'll make you wish you were born in 1905

[ArtVandelayImporterExporter · 9/10 · 5 December 2016]

With stellar jazz-age tunes this movie starts on fire and never fades.

It's funny. It's sexy. It challenges the boundaries of the day.

I kept thinking: I was born several decades too late.

Makes me sad Colleen Moore didn't make many movies after this, before retiring in the mid-30s. Also fun to see ''Commissioner Gordon'' in the silent era. Supporting cast is well above average. And maybe most surprising of all it's all so natural. None of that ham- boned silent-era acting. It's almost as if the actors were delivering their lines in a talkie.

Thank heavens for TCM, or we'd never see this great movie.I could watch this movie over and over again.

good girl

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 23 June 2022]

Pert Kelly is a flapper. She enjoys a fun time. Winthrop Peabody Jr. Is the son of the owner of the department store where she works. He's not quite as much of a party goer but he quickly falls for the vivacious Pert. His father warns him against that type of girl.

This is a silent film with a soundtrack. Colleen Moore is great as Pert. She has an interesting look with her hair and she has great energy. He's a bit of a dud by comparison. They need more chemistry. Mostly they need more time together. They do have some fun interactions but they just need more of them. This is not so much a rom-com between those two as much as a test to whether Pert is a good girl or not. In that way, it is somewhat old-fashion and that is probably the appeal back in the day. It's about the moral evaluation of a girl. It's telling that she lives with her parents. She does show more skin than I expected. What's in the room? It's about the changing moral landscape and what constitutes a good girl. Even a flapper can be a good girl.

Jazz Mad!!

[kidboots · 9/10 · 4 June 2019]

Colleen Moore was one of the biggest stars of the 1920s - her range was diverse but her forte was sparkling, light comedy, the naughty but nice, perfect flapper. She went from strength to strength and her voice recorded well but after the talkies her career was almost finished. She made a comeback in 1933 "The Power and the Glory" just to show everyone what a poignant actress she was but it failed to re-establish her. Colleen said herself that in 1930, facing a divorce, she had "had it" but after a decade of "scintillating sin" the flapper was now passe and her first talkie "Smiling Irish Eyes" had not only been rejected as a script a few years before but critics thought it was just too cute.

If this was a typical Colleen Moore movie, wow - I would have been a huge fan!! Yes it was a bit preachy but for it's day there was a strong feminist message. Winthrop Peabody Jr (a dreamy Neil Hamilton) is having a big whoopee in his 50th floor apartment!! - to celebrate his last night of freedom before going to work in his father's store. And what a party - flappers, lots of dancing and petting, all to the latest in 1929 jazz. In fact the soundtrack is a glory in itself with a non stop assortment of the best tunes from the best bands - "Flapperette", "Changes" etc. Meanwhile over at the Boiler Room (and to the strains of "Sweet Georgia Brown") Pert Kelly (Moore) has just won a Charleston contest with some pretty fancy footwork - according to her, she's a "three alarm fire"!! She and Winthrop meet after her romeo falls asleep but while they make fireworks she is a good girl who tells her mother she has an almost impossible time trying to hide it from her fast friends!! Wouldn't you know it - she is a salesgirl from Peabody's Department Store and while she is reprimanded for being late, because of a new "get tough" policy she finds herself out of a job!!

The story is the old morality one (as so many of these fizzy flapper movies were) - Pert has a fast and furious reputation to live up to. Winthrop believes she is a good girl but the seeds of doubt are planted by his father whose speech about not judging people according to their class -he so does!! Winthrop takes her to a roadhouse - the Stumble Inn, as Pert, in an effort to appear worldly, says she knows this place like the back of her hand!! Moore gives a very impassioned speech with feminist overtones about the reason women act so free and easy is because men expect it - it's the old double standard. Film ends with a Charleston lesson taught in pajamas. Terrific!!

My Favorite Silent Musical

[learningwithmrsmith · 7/10 · 15 July 2022]

"Why be good?" A question with which toddlers have struggled for ages. Maybe more like "Does it pay to appear to be bad."

Here's pert Coleen Moore playing Pert in an interesting relic. The quality of the image, the rolling crowds, the frenetic dancing, the spot-on jazz score are all exceptional. The dialogue (as I read it) is snappy and irreverent. Here we have one extremely lively silent where our toddlers are hyped up spoiled thirty-ish metropolitans.

Pert meets a man she calls Greasy. She points to him as he sits next to her and says to her neighbor on the other side, "Extract of aromas." The bad guy (Greasy) is tremendously sleazy. He has the hairline of Nixon and a partial mustache, and sideburns that point to the bridge of his crooked nose. He won't stop his open mouthed gum chomping for anything. Later Pert is chewing gum, one can only hope it is not the same piece.

With Pert, you're hitting a triple and staying on third. She claims she is "Too hot for this old folks home," but I'm not so sure. A person can be pretty convincing when they pretend enough.

ODDS AND ENDS

The family business employs 200 men and 1000 girls! How big is this store? This means there are five girls for every man. This is a problematic ratio.

It might be the make-up but this Pert appears to have an extraordinarily tiny mouth.

What is she doing with those bracelets? (12:42) I can't really describe it on a family website.

He rubs his hands together when she asks for a ride home. I have yet to see this gesture anywhere but in these old movies.

The mannequin's face seems very "champaign at the polo club" to me. (35:10)

SMOKING RITUAL

As soon as dad enters the party we see a dancing lady holding her cigarette in the left hand she gently rests on her partner's shoulder.

Neil Hamilton is an uninspired smoker. I'm not sure whether or not that's an insult. When he's waiting in his car he takes a puff with a sort of overhand grip with his palm down. This particular move is seen more in films from the 60s.

When dad lectures son about the dangers of broadmindedness the old man is gripping an unlit half smoked cigar. I think he places it somewhere on the dresser. Are those elevated ashtrays?

A Colleen Moore movie.

[westernone · 5/10 · 6 December 2016]

Here's a great representation of Colleen Moore and her work. A good good girl that dares to pretend to be a bad good girl who gets to the very edge of the precipice, but the good girl in her won't let her take the dive. A lesson is learned, the good goodness pays off in the end, and the equally virtuous boy prize is copped fair and square. This happens too many times to not be intentional. The same story is told and told yet again. The anxiety of whether she might slip kept her fans in suspense through the late silent era. She's adorable, and the films are fun, which is what a movie should offer, of course, but it seems to me Miss Moore, her great popularity of the time not withstanding, left no great films. In this typical effort, nothing new or especially memorable happens, it's just THE Colleen Moore movie once again.

This restoration has some problems, It seems to have titles retranslated from the Italian source material, with strange attempts at flaming youth patois like calling somebody a "Big Team" or a "Greasy Brat". The repeated reference to booze as "Wine", would indicate what the Italians had them drinking, and Colleen is introduced as an American girl, a needless point, except that it's another holdover from the original.

I saw the restored version in a packed theater with a live orchestra - amazing!

[SanFranciscoCinephile · 8 April 2016]

Why Be Good? was shown at the Silent Film Festival 2015 in San Francisco, in a 1920's movie house with a live orchestra. You can't get better than that! The line to get in went around the block, but it was sooo worth it: a rediscovered and just-restored silent film at a packed art-house theater which happened to be built a few years before this film's original theatrical release, with live musicians playing along so marvelously, it's hard to top it.

We were given brochures and there was a pre-screening talk. It was there I learned that the film's star, Colleen Moore, died thinking all copies of the movie had been forever lost, including her reels which she'd given to a museum for preservation. But just like with Metropolis recently, someone at a cinematheque found a copy and after years of painstaking restoration work it was brought again to the world.

I loved it. Colleen was so great portraying a flapper, and in a full house she and the other actors sure made us laugh a lot. I was very impressed with the Art Deco sets, the ingenious Boiler Room scene, and the moral of the story which I won't spoil. But yes there was a moral in the midst of all the dancing and comedy, and it was one that made all the women in the theater cheer!

So big kudos to the restoration folks, and the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra for the superb live accompaniment. It makes me wish every movie I attended had live musicians now.

Rare Colleen Moore feature

[cynthiahost · 10/10 · 14 November 2014]

You can say that this is a mix of It,Saturday Night kid and Love Trap and our Modern Maiden. Colleen Moore did a few of her vehicles ,back in the twentieth ,focusing on the flapper, such as Flaming Youth, which only a fragment survives.The music that was used in this silent film sounded exactly like the music of Hugo Riesenfeld , that was used in the King of Kings.I though First national had used him,but, the credit stated Max Terr and Irving Talbot.So they were copying some of his king of king score.They had also include pop tunes of that times in the score,some that I heard live 365 oldies station.What made me think of Saturday night kid was the fact that Jean Harlow played a part in it and she had an uncredited part in This feature.I did not notice her .I also did not notice Micha Auer in it neither.Like Clara Bow,Colleens character is a good girl who pretends to be sexually wild ,out of fear she won't be excepted .A working girl in a department store She goes out with her friends for dancing and drink booze moderately.She live with her parents,played by Edward Martindel and Bodil Rosing.Her father disproves of it , but her mother is understanding knowing she does not do wrong.I got the impression that it was made in 1927 and held back until 29,because it looked that way,but, in the inter title card the date mentions 1929.It's when Colleen is going out with her new beau played by Louise Natheaux, is when she meets Winthrop ,played by Neil Hamilton, practically almost the same similar role he played in the Love trap, that she falls in love with him.His father ,who runs the department store,in which Winthrop manages,does not think she good for him ,so he fired her.Collen thinks it might of been Winthrop,but Winthrop did not realize it.The father disapproving the engagement for the ex shop girl,suggest to test her of her virtue.The test all falls out,that she hold her virtue.Considered a lost classic for years and was restored last year with the aid of the Vitaphone project .Worth collecting 11/14/14

Actually not a Great Comedy

[arfdawg-1 · 4/10 · 27 March 2020]

Looks good, well acted, well directed. but not so funny.

PLUS another reviewer who saw it here in SF with a live orchestra saw it in a completely wrong way.

This was a silent film released with a Vibraphone sound track and was meant to be seen that way That's how I saw it.

It's really not a great film. Sorry. And BTW, I like silent films.

Underneath the paint, you will find a saint.

[mukava991 · 29 September 2015]

"Why Be Good?" is a cultural treasure, not only because it's one of the few extant Colleen Moore features of the silent era, but because it has been crisply restored and boasts one of most voluptuous synchronized soundtracks of any late silent feature. As Leonard Maltin explained in his post-broadcast discussion on Turner Classic Movies which aired Sept. 28, 2015, the soundtrack musicians included such jazz greats as Joe Venuti and Tommy Dorsey. Vintage numbers including "I'm Thirsty for Kisses and Hungry for Love," "If You Want the Rainbow, You Must Have the Rain," "Tall, Dark and Handsome," "Flapperette," "Changes," "Le Chant des Boulevards" and "That's Her Now" as well as era-evocative nuggets by William Axt, Hugo Riesenfeld and others, accompany the jaunty proceedings. If Moore was was ever better I'd like to see evidence. She had the face, the hair and the attitude that have come to epitomize "flapper." In early talkies WBG's leading man, Neil Hamilton had a stodgy presence, but is more palatable in silence; if Moore was the ultimate flapper of her time, Hamilton was her equal in the young WASP romantic lead department. Louis Natheaux as a vainglorious would-be dance hall Casanova is the most entertaining supporting player in the early scenes, while Bodil Rosing and John Sainpolis serve the scenario effectively as Moore's parents.

The film showcases in a well-appointed and neatly packaged way the controversies about the role of women at the time. Objecting to her father's strictures about dress code and leisure activities, Moore argues that if she works to contribute to household upkeep, then she has a right to look like she wants (bobbed hair, lipstick, revealing dresses) and do what she wants (stay out half the night dancing, drink illegal alcohol, smoke cigarettes and ride around with men she's just met – in moderation, of course). These conflicts had been hashed out in countless films , including Moore's own "Flaming Youth" (1923) before this one was released. WBG then could well be characterized as the Last Word on flappers.

Though not a part of the soundtrack, the popular song of the time "She's a New Kind of Old Fashioned Girl" perfectly suits the Moore character ("Underneath the paint / You will find a saint…")

Dreadful picture.

[salvidienusorfitus · 1/10 · 28 September 2017]

Dreadful picture. One of the worst pictures I have seen from 1929. The main characters awaken absolutely no sympathy from the viewer. Watching the 30 year old Colleen Moore trying to act like a dumb teenager is absolutely ridiculous. Furthermore, the thought of someone like Neil Hamilton (or any sane person for that matter) falling in love with such a silly ridiculous person (dressed in some of the most ridiculous fashions I have seen) is beyond belief. Almost every other women in the picture, including the extras, are much more attractive that she is. I am also shocked on how bad the Synchronized Score is, especially as this is a First National picture, as all other example of Synchronized musical scoring I have heard from 1928-1929 for First National pictures are quite elegant and tasteful. The music in the dancing sequences is crass and annoying and I find it hard to believe that the extras were dancing to anything even remotely sounding like that.

If you look at film trade reviews from the period, the film did very poorly upon release. I'm surprised that First National produced two expensive all talking musicals ("Smiling Irish Eyes" and "Footlights and Fools" with Technicolor sequences) in 1929 after this disaster.. again starring Colleen Moore... which are lost but frankly after seeing this film it is no great loss if her acting in those pictures was even remotely similar to that she gives in the disaster known as "Why Be Good"