Why Be Good? is an effective critique of the hypocrisy of men; as Pert Kelly (Colleen Moore) says to Winthrop Peabody, Jr. (Neil Hamilton), "you bawl women out for being what you want" (one can see the class consciousness just in the name of the characters). Department store heir Peabody falls in love with working-class Kelly and Kelly has to prove that just because she wears short skirts and loves to dance she is still virtuous, just as she has to prove to her parents that just because Peabody gives her presents does not prove that she is a "strumpet," after all, her father spent all his money on her mother when they were courting.
This is an effective jazz-age story, where the music and dancing are intense and the drinking (especially by the men) is even more so, and Colleen Moore epitomizes the period as she wears her hair in a Dutch Bowl (even before Louise Brooks did), works hard during the day as a salesgirl and dances in Charleston contests at night. Most of the film takes place at parties and in nightclubs, with a synchronized jazz score using performers from the period, including drummer Phil Harris. Seiter directs energetically with the help of veteran cinematographer Sidney Hickox. Colleen Moore was an extremely popular actress in the silent era but made only four sound films (including The Power and the Glory in 1933, written by Preston Sturges and directed by William K. Howard) before retiring. William A. Seiter directed a number of other Colleen Moore vehicles and in 1929 directed a total of seven films; he directed 150 films and television shows in his career from 1919 to 1960 and died in 1964.
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