First National
“Look Your Best” was released February 18, again a Goldwyn picture, followed a little less than a month later by “The Nth Commandment” by Famous Players Laskey-Paramount. “The Nth Commandment” had been a Cosmopolitan Production, as had “Through the Dark” (Cosmopolitan Corporation). Both roles she had gotten in part due to her new friendship with Marion Davies, who was the mistress of William Randolph Hearst. Hearst had created Cosmopolitan to give Marion an opportunity to star in films. By February she had also confirmed her engagement to McCormick.
In May, Colleen signed on with Associated First National Pictures, no doubt due in large part to the campaigning of John McCormick, who saw a special quality in her. "Realizing the important relation of good players to the successful screening of good stories," the 
Los Angeles Times reported on May 3rd, "it is announced that this company will groom its most promising young players by means of leading roles and featured parts until stardom is justified.
“Miss Moore's first appearance is scheduled for the title role of ‘The Huntress,’ which is to be directed by Lyn Reynolds.... Her second appearance under her new contract will be in ‘Flaming Youth,’ which will be directed by Jack Dillon.” At least | Poster from "Look Your Best," from the Margaret Herrick Library collection. |
one news report suggests that Colleen had already bobbed her hair for her role in “The Huntress” so as to wear her wig more easily. Short hair had been in fashion since shortly after Colleen arrived in Hollywood, and in viewing her early films it is easy to see that the long hair and sausage curls she wore when she first arrived in Hollywood were quickly shed. It was only when she | Above, stills from "The Nth Commandment" |
went to Goldwyn that she grew it long again, willing to alter her appearance as necessary to secure work. Bobbing her hair, especially given the vogue for short hair in the early
1920s, would not have been too radical a departure for Colleen; if it had necessary to get a role--for instance, Patricia Frentiss in "Flaming Youth"--she would have gladly chopped it off. "Flaming Youth" had been a sensation as a book. Patricia Frentiss, the character she would play, was a controversial character. A young girl, she was worldly beyond her years in the way most young women seemed to be in those days. | Still from "Broken Hearts of Boradway." |
The fame Colleen sought had eluded her to that point, so taking the role was a gamble that could potentially pay off handsomely. At a minimum, it would attract a lot of attention, though not all of it might turn out favorable. The character would be racier and more sharply drawn then any of the other characters she had played on film.
Whichever came first--the bobbed hair or the film role, her first genuine “flapper” on film—the new short hair style marked a change for Colleen's image.
The film "Slippy McGee" was released in June with "Broken Hearts of Broadway fast on its heels. Filming on "The Huntress" was close to finished with production of "Flaming Youth" getting under way. A wedding date was fast approaching.
