''Why Be Good?'' is a 1929 American silent

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

produced by First National Pictures starring Colleen Moore and Neil Hamilton. The film has no audible dialogue but is accompanied by a

Vitaphone Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone was the last major analog sound-on-disc system and the only one ...

soundtrack with music, sound effects and some synchronized singing.''Why Be Good?''
at silentera.com

Plot

Winthrop Peabody Jr. and his friends prepare to frolic into the night before he must begin work the following day at his father's department store. Before departing, Winthrop Peabody Sr. lectures his son about women and warns him to avoid the store's female employees. Pert Kelly, after winning a dance contest, is wooed by gentlemen of questionable character. Pert catches the eye of Peabody Jr., who drives her home and schedules a date for the following night. Because she was out late, Pert is tardy to work and must report to the personnel office, where she is surprised to find Peabody Jr. working. Peabody Sr. sees what has happened and fires Pert. Peabody Jr. explains to Pert that it was not he who had terminated her, and they schedule another date. Lavish gifts arrive for Pert to wear to the next date. Her father admonishes her about the lack of virtues of the modern man, and Peabody Sr. repeats his warning to his son. On the next date, Peabody Jr. has devised a test of Pert's virtue. When he tries to push her past her personal limits, she protests and passes his test. They are married that night and prove her virtue to Peabody Sr., who cannot now refute it.

Cast

* Colleen Moore as Pert Kelly * Neil Hamilton as Winthrop Peabody Jr. *

Bodil Rosing Bodil Rosing (born Bodil Frederikke Hammerich; December 27, 1877 December 31, 1941) was a Danish-American film actress in the silent and sound eras. Early years Bodil Hammerich was born in Copenhagen, the daughter of music dean Angel Hammeri ...

as Ma Kelly *

John St. Polis John M. St. Polis (born John Marie Sainpolis; November 24, 1873 – October 8, 1946) was an American actor. Biography St. Polis was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Before starting his film career, he made a name for himself on the Broadway ...

as Pa Kelly *

Edward Martindel Edward Martindel (July 8, 1876 – May 4, 1955) was an American stage and film actor who appeared on Broadway and in more than 80 films between 1915 and 1946. Born in Hamilton, Ohio, he was the son of Dr. and Mrs. Frank Martindell. His si ...

as Winthrop Peabody Sr. *

Louis Natheaux Louis Natheaux (born ''Louis F. Natho''; December 10, 1894 – August 23, 1942) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than eighty films between 1919 and 1942. Born in Danville, Illinois, Natheaux performed in vaudeville and in a ...

as Jimmy Alexander * Eddie Clayton as Tim *

Lincoln Stedman Lincoln Stedman (May 18, 1907 – March 22, 1948) was an American silent film actor. Biography Stedman was born in Denver, Colorado, the only child to Marshall Stedman and silent film beauty Myrtle Stedman. Stedman had a career in films da ...

as Jerry * Collette Merton as Julie * Dixie Carter as Susie

Preservation status

''Why Be Good?'' had been considered a

lost film A lost film is a feature Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature (CAD), could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (software design) is an intentional distinguishing char ...

for many decades, with only the film's

soundtrack still in existence. In the late 1990s, a 35mm print of the film was discovered in an Italian archive. Restoration work began in 2012 and was completed in 2014, funded by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

and The Vitaphone Project. The U.S. premiere of the restoration was hosted by the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

at the

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was founded in 19 ...

's Bing Theater on September 6, 2014. This same restoration was released on DVD-R by the

Warner Archive Collection The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inte ...

on October 28, 2014 and screened at New York's

Film Forum Film Forum is a nonprofit movie theater at 209 West Houston Street in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. It began in 1970 as an alternative screening space for independent films, with 50 folding chairs, one projector and a $19,000 annual budget. Kare ...

on November 9, 2014. It has also aired on the

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of At ...

channel.

References

Notes Bibliography *Codori, Jeff (2012), ''Colleen Moore; A Biography of the Silent Film Star''
McFarland Publishing
(Print , EBook ).

External links

* * * *

AFI Catalog of Feature Films

''Why Be Good'' soundtrack
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

{{William A. Seiter, state=collapsed 1929 films 1929 romantic comedy films American romantic comedy films American silent feature films American black-and-white films Films directed by William A. Seiter Films set in New York City First National Pictures films Transitional sound films 1920s rediscovered films Rediscovered American films 1920s American films Silent romantic comedy films Silent American comedy films