Love 'em and Leave 'em (Silent)

Mame Walsh promised their mother on her deathbed to look after little sister Janie; which is a strain, given that Janie helps herself cheerfully to everything from her sister's clothes, to the boyfriend who's just proposed, and the money entrusted to her by fellow-employees at the store. You can't blame Mame for being just a little hurt and jealous when she comes back from holiday to find out what's been going on -- but she can't break that promise, so when it comes to getting Janie out of trouble, big sister comes to the rescue.

Based on a play by George Abbott and John V.A. Weaver, LOVE 'EM AND LEAVE 'EM stars Evelyn Brent and Louise Brooks as sisters in competition over the affections of Lawrence Gray. One sister covers for the other when a large amount of money is stolen, but her selflessness is rewarded when "bad" sis steals Gray away. Things eventually get straightened out, no thanks to would-be seducer Osgood Perkins, who, as the title tells us, "spent three years curing himself of halitosis, only to find out that he was unpopular anyway." The two leading ladies are far more interesting than the vapid hero, who spends half his time looking cow-eyed or comporting about in a silly party costume. Louise Brooks would later recall that director Frank Tuttle didn't inform her that the film was a comedy; he wanted her to play the material straight, which turned to be most effective. LOVE 'EM AND LEAVE 'EM was remade as a talkie starring Clara Bow and Jean Arthur, 1929's THE SATURDAY NIGHT KID.