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

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

produced by

First National Pictures First National Pictures was an American motion picture production and distribution company. It was founded in 1917 as First National Exhibitors' Circuit, Inc., an association of independent theatre owners in the United States, and became the count ...

starring

Colleen Moore Colleen Moore (born Kathleen Morrison; August 19, 1899 – January 25, 1988) was an American film actress who began her career during the silent film era. Moore became one of the most fashionable (and highly-paid) stars of the era and helped po ...

and Neil Hamilton. While the film has no audible dialogue, it 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 Pictures, First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone is the last major analog sound-on-disc sys ...

soundtrack that features a musical score with

sound effects A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. In m ...

and some synchronized singing.Progressive Silent Film List: ''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

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 stage and American film actress in the silent and sound eras. Early years Bodil Hammerich was born in Copenhagen, the daughter of music dean ...

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 John Marie Sainpolis in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of Jean Marie Sainpolis and Marie Catherine Bor ...

as Pa Kelly *

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

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. Biography Louis F. Natho was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas on December 10, 1 ...

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 dat ...

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

Music

The film featured a

theme song Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

entitled "I'm Thirsty for Kisses - Hungry for Love" with words and music by

Lou Davis Lou Davis (May 14, 1881 – October 18, 1961) was an American songwriter, and author associated with Tin Pan Alley. He was also a businessman in the wholesale meat business. His primary musical collaborators were Abel Baer, Henry Busse, Harold Arl ...

and J. Fred Coots.

Censorship

Like many American films of the time, ''Why Be Good?'' was subject to cuts by city and state film censorship boards. In Kansas the film, with its plot of a test of the virtue of a young woman, was banned by the Board of Review.

Preservation

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

lost film A lost film is a feature film, feature or short film in which the original negative or copies are not known to exist in any studio archive, private collection, or public archive. Films can be wholly or partially lost for a number of reasons. ...

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 the archives of the

Cineteca Italiana Cineteca Italiana is a private film archive located in Milan, Italy, established in 1947, and as a foundation in 1996. History Established in 1947, and as a foundation in 1996, the Cineteca Italiana houses over 20,000 films and more than 100,000 ...

. Restoration work was completed in 2014, funded by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

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 in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

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 1961 ...

'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 The Film Forum is a nonprofit movie theater at 209 West Houston Street in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City. It is a four-screen cinema open 365 days a year, with up to 250,000 annual admissions, nearly 500 seats, 60 employees, over ...

on November 9, 2014. It was later aired on the

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcas ...

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 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

{{William A. Seiter, state=collapsed 1929 films 1929 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 American romantic comedy films 1920s English-language films English-language romantic comedy films Surviving American silent films Synchronized sound films