Silent Era : Home Video Reviews

Silent Era Home Page > Home Video > Why Be Good?

Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2026 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved.

Why Be Good?
(1929)

This late silent era comedy, directed by William A. Seiter, stars Colleen Moore and Neil Hamilton, with Bodil Rosing, John Sainpolis and Edward Martindel. Hamilton and Moore make an appealing screen couple.

It’s hard to watch this exuberant flapper comedy and not think of the impending stock market crash and will soon dampen all these characters’ jazz age flummery.

It’s also hard not to keep your eyes glued to Colleen Moore when she’s on-screen. She does more acting with her eyes than most silent players. See if you agree.

Warner Archive Collection
2024 Blu-ray Disc edition

The Boob (1926), black & white, 60 minutes, not rated, with Why Be Good? (1929), black & white, 81 minutes, not rated.

Warner Home Video,
no catalog number, UPC 8-40418-30336-8.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 Blu-ray Disc (BD-R BDMV); 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in pillarboxed 16:9 (1920 x 1080 pixels) 24 fps progressive scan image encoded in SDR AVC format at ? Mbps average video bit rate; DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono sound encoded at ? Mbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard BD keepcase; $21.99.
Release date: 26 March 2024.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 7 / audio: 6 / additional content: 8 / overall: 7.

This Blu-ray Disc edition has been mastered from a very-good 35mm archival print. The HD scan has been digitally stabilized and cleaned with pretty good results, only occasionally showing tell-tale artifacts. With the extra picture resolution of Blu-ray Disc, the results are a marginal improvement over Warner’s 2014 DVD edition noted below as both editions utilize the same HD scan. The picture is still a bit contrasty with little image details left in shadow areas. Overall, viewing is pleasant and distraction-free.

The film is accompanied by the film’s original Vitaphone music and sound effects soundtrack from 1929.

This is our recommended home video edition of the film.

This Region 0 Blu-ray Disc edition is available from
WARNER ARCHIVE COLLECTION through . . .

Warner Archive Collection
2014 DVD edition

Why Be Good? (1929), black & white, 81 minutes, not rated.

Warner Home Video,
no catalog number, UPC 8-88574-12841-8.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at 7.0 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 mono sound encoded at 192 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 7 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $19.95.
Release date: 12 November 2014.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 7 / audio: 6 / additional content: 0 / overall: 7.

This DVD-R edition has been mastered from a very-good 35mm archival print. The natural-speed scan appears to have been digitally stabilized and cleaned-up as there is very little dust and speckling left in the picture.

The film is accompanied by the film’s original Vitaphone music and sound effects soundtrack from 1929.

This is our recommended DVD home video edition of the film.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available from
WARNER ARCHIVE COLLECTION through . . .

Sinister Cinema
2025 DVD edition

Why Be Good? (1929), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, with Legong, Dance of the Virgins (1935), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.

Sinister Cinema, X151, unknown UPC number.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at ? Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $12.95.
Release date: 2025.
Country of origin: USA

This DVD-R edition has been mastered from a 35mm print.

The film is accompanied by the film’s original Vitaphone music and sound effects soundtrack from 1929.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .