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Why Be Good?

William A. Seiter (Director), Neil Hamilton (Actor), Edward Martindel (Actor) Rated:

Format: DVD

4.5 40 ratings

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November 12, 2014

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Genre	Classics/Silent Films, Comedy/Classic Comedies
Format	NTSC
Contributor	Edward Martindel, Neil Hamilton, William A. Seiter
Language	English
Number Of Discs	1

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Product Description

"Why be good when it's so much more thrilling to be bad?" asked the ad campaign for this slightly naughty and oh-so-knowing silent-movie celebration of the flapper era. The star of Flaming Youth - vivacious Colleen Moore - again captures the rebellious flamboyance of the Twenties in Why Be Good? She plays Pert Kelly, a shopgirl who wins the heart of the boss' son (Neil Hamilton, The Dawn Patrol). The boss, however, doubts that Pert is virtuous. His love-struck son wonders if Dad could be right. So he sets up a little test for his sweetie: He takes Pert to a raucous roadhouse, rents a private room and makes a most ungentlemanly suggestion. Will Pert be good? Or, with Prince Charming in her grasp, will she decide it's better to be bad? The lively direction is the work of William A. Seiter, whose 45-year career included the Golden Age musicals Roberta, Dimples and You Were Never Lovelier.

Product details

Aspect Ratio ‏ : ‎ 1.33:1
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ NR (Not Rated)
Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches; 2.72 Ounces
Director ‏ : ‎ William A. Seiter
Media Format ‏ : ‎ NTSC
Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 21 minutes
Release date ‏ : ‎ November 12, 2014
Actors ‏ : ‎ Neil Hamilton, Edward Martindel
Studio ‏ : ‎ Warner Archive Collection
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00P8RURKI
Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ USA
Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1

Best Sellers Rank: #56,628 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #2,364 in Romance (Movies & TV)
- #6,779 in Comedy (Movies & TV)

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4.5 40 ratings

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4.5 out of 5

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Immortal Choas

A gem from the jazz age!

Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2023

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This is my favorite Colleen Moore film of all time

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David Tuomi

Wonderfully restored Vitaphone film.

Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2018

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A sweet movie, with a lovely restored soundtrack and picture. I was very impressed, in a lot of ways it looked like it could have come out yesterday. The story isn't great. It seemed like the sort of movie where the parts were greater than the whole. There are terrific scenes and set pieces, but overall the story line is flat. Still enjoyable if for no other reason, the freshly restored musical soundtrack from Vitaphone disk is wonderful.

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David L. Gill

Oh, Lady Be Good Anyway!

Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2017

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A beautiful presentation of a rare, recently re-discovered film from the Vitaphone era, WHY BE GOOD (1929) is a story of a young girl who is trying to protect her reputation of being 'bad' while still maintaining her virginity. Needless to say, hilarity ensues. In addition to a vintage photoplay score, performances from some of the era's hottest jazz bands (including Jimmy Dorsey) are contained in the film. It's a jazz-baby romp of the first order and definitely worth adding to your collection!

One person found this helpful

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Dustin H Feldhaus

I am so glad that this film was released on video

Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2015

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I am so glad that this film was released on video. It's an apparent tragedy that more of Moore's work is not available today. It's said that much of her best work is lost or only available in incomplete and undesirable forms. This film is not what I would consider to be a great film, but it's complete and available and showcases the greatness of her performance. The story is mediocre at best and weakened by a forced ending. I won't go into the plot. You can read that in the description. But, if you haven't seen her in action before, this is a glimpse at her magnificence. I hope that they may find more of her lost films, cause she is a worthy representative of the silent era. A confirmation of the great work that existed in those days and is all too often ignored by the audiences of today. A neat addition to this film is seeing the early work of Neil Hamilton, who was a mild star back then too. He later became Commissioner Gordon in the classic Batman series. Check it out Kids.

6 people found this helpful

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tommy

I am thrilled to finally be able to view her in Why Be Good. Thoroughly enjoyed the jazz-age music

Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2015

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After too many years of Coleen Moore's films of the 1920s not being available, I am thrilled to finally be able to view her in Why Be Good. Thoroughly enjoyed the jazz-age music, clothes, cars and especially Coleen Moore. Many years ago, while promoting her book "Silent Star" I was fortunate to meet and speak with her at a book store in Buffalo, New York. I still have her book personally autographed to me. She was very sweet, and I'll never forget she told me her mother's maiden name was the same as my last name.

6 people found this helpful

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B. Paddock

Very funny and entertaining

Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2018

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This is SO entertaining! Great soundtrack, especially put together & recorded at the time the movie was released, the lilting tuns keep things moving right along. Colleen Moore is at the peak of her (considerable) power in this confection. We watch a lot of stuff on Netflix, but sadly they don't feature things like this...so thankfully it is readily available here.

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T. G. Weaver

A Historic and Fun Film

Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2014

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This is a fascinating artifact of the transition to sound - the film was shot silent, and a soundtrack of music and sound effects was recorded separately, to be played back on Vitaphone discs in the theater, synchronized with the film.

In addition to the technical interest, the great jazz music played at the skyscraper penthouse party at the beginning of the movie is worth the price of admission alone.

13 people found this helpful

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1937Forever

Grab the Popcorn and a hardwood floor to tap your feet!

Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2016

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A delight! A well preserved print of this film was recently located and restored. While a silent movie - it has a complete soundtrack that has a lot of jazz age music. The movie moves right along and friends that don't usually like silent movies - enjoyed it to the end.

2 people found this helpful

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Janet Karasz

Enjoyed very much thanks.

Reviewed in Canada on January 9, 2022

Verified Purchase

Great silence movie.

M.Robinson

what great fun this movie is

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 12, 2017

Verified Purchase

Wow!,what great fun this movie is!.Just finished watching it and what a great antidote this totally let loose ,charming ,fun and realistic depiction of people in the 1920s,having fun,is to the contrasting ,prudish Hays Code imposed on films ,just 6 years later!
Colleen Moore is a revelation!.In this great film,she gives Clara Bow(the "It "girl) more than a run for her money!.What a Star!.She may not have been as good looking as Clara Bow,but she makes up for it with charisma !.There are more than a few, laugh out loud moments in this film and what is great about it ,is it's authenticity,natural performances and very witty screenplay!.The Director William A.Seiter ,who I have never heard of ,does a fantastic job!,naturalistic performances all round!.The author of the screen play Carey Wilson and the Director ,must have got so stifled by the puritanical Hays Code ,imposed on all films in the mid 1930s which resulted in many films becoming ,prudish,stuffy and unaturalistic,a condition,which continued in Holiwood,up until the late 1950s.
The restored print is great and the music is very fitting and adds to the humour,bringing the film fully alive!.If you want to see a delightful film ,showing people having recreational fun in the 1920s look no firther !.This ,so called,Region 1 DVD,plays perfectly well on most Region 2 DVD players.

BSK

Einen moderner Film der "neu" entdeckt war - An unexpectedly modern film which was believed to be lost

Reviewed in Germany on December 11, 2016

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Eine Verkauferin die tanzen und Nachtleben mag, und dafür als "schlecht" bei allem geglaubt ist, trifft ein reichen jungen Mann und, obwohl die Beide im einander verliebt sind, haben sie Probleme, die wahren Absichten des anderen zu finden. Wenig ahnt sie, dass er wird bald ihr neuer Chef sein.
Why be good? ist mit Synthetic Sin einen der letzte stumme Filme von Colleen Moore. Die Beide waren verloren geglaubt, bis im 1994 in einem Italienische Filmarchiv "gefunden" waren, und zu der Beste glücklich restauriert. Warner hat für Why be Good ihre "neues" Vitaphone Tonsystem verwendet. Mit den originale Vitaphone Schalplatten konnte die Band-Sound volles restauriert werden, volle mit jazz Melodien. Jetzt konnen wir alles also dieser Film geniessen, einige sehr moderne Aspekte im Produktion Bauten anschauen, und auch ein Bisschen mehr verstanden, warum ist Colleen Moore als eine Vertreter des Flapper- modell gesehen, mit ihrer frische und spontane Weise zu interpretieren. Auch SEHR gutes Bildqualität. Das Argument ist etwas lose, aber bestimmt mit gutem Tempo von William A. Seiter erzählt. Vermissen Sie nicht diesen Film!

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. They like each other but will have to deal with doubts on their mutual behaviour. 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 spotted as extras.
As a whole, highly recommended, and deserving to be known.

El Aleman

Vom Stummfilm zum Tonfilm

Reviewed in Germany on May 26, 2016

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Ich habe mir diese DVD gekauft weil ich neugierig darauf war.
Colleen Moore war seinerzeit ein bekannte Schauspielerin, von der nur wenige Filme überlebt haben.
Der Film ist ganz unterhaltsam, eine der bekannten Geschichten: armes Mädchen erobert wohlhabenden
Mann, weil sie nicht nur hübsch ist sondern auch einen guten Charakter hat. Das wird hier vorübergehend
bezweifelt, stellt sich aber zur Zufriedenheit heraus. Auch der Vater des Traumprinzen macht nicht zu viele
Schwierigkeiten, so das alles ein gutes Ende findet.
Dies ist ein Film mit Ton ( Filmmusik usw.) aber die Darsteller sprechen noch nicht ( hörbar ).

One person found this helpful

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Old Pedant

Vitaphone delight

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 22, 2015

Verified Purchase

Fabulous. Very late period silent film with completely naturalistic performances. Somewhat reminiscent of 'The Artist' in style. The original Vitaphone soundtrack is a delight. Although not a complete digital restoration, the picture and sound quality are excellent.

3 people found this helpful

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