westernone 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.

wes-connors 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

cynthiahost 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

drednm 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.