What did critics think of Louise Brooks and Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em (1926)? Opinion of the film was positive, and the film proved popular. Here is a survey, in the form of a number of quotes, from some of the newspapers and magazines of the time. All sources are American.
“Louise Brooks, the sister who is responsible for all of her sorrow, personifies the popular conception of a modern flapper with faultless accuracy. Her so-called ‘million dollar’ legs contribute materially to this portrayal.” — Hake Herbert, St. Louis Times
“Louise Brooks, whose gifts as an actress include a boyish sort of beauty and a sophisticated smile, is the bad girl.” — Arthur Sheekman, Chicago Daily Journal
“Director Tuttle has managed to present Louise Brooks in a role to which she lends some conviction as well as ornamentation . . . all very well and entertainingly done.” — Roscoe McGowen, New York Daily News
“The cast has three featured members – Evelyn Brent, Lawrence Gray and Louise Brooks. It would have been just as well to have reversed the order of the names, for Louise Brooks, playing an entirely unsympathetic role . . . runs away with the picture.” — Fred, Variety
“Louise Brooks is an interesting type, but her acting in this film is not exactly studious, nor can she be for an instant accused of submerging her personality in that of the character.” — Mourdant Hall, New York Times
“Louise Brooks, the direct antithesis of Clara Bow in coloring, but as vivacious as any ingénue yet offered on the silver sheet, is again welcomed back to the Metropolitan in this picture.” — Hal Barnes, Los Angeles Daily Illustrated News
“To Louise Brooks go the acting laurels of the picture.” — Louise Kreisman, Daily Bruin
“The characterization, though, is excellent, made all the more so by the painstaking work of Evelyn Brent and Louise Brooks as the sisters. The former retains sympathy without being superhumanly saintly; the later, besides being a ravishing beauty, gives a deft portrayal of an utterly selfish and superficial creature.” — Carl B. Adams, Cincinnati Enquirer
“There is only one original thing in this picture. That is that the younger does not repent and, as far as we know, continues to be the life of the party for the sugar papas.” – S. N. S., Milwaukee Leader
“No other person than Louise Brooks, however, instills the spice in this concoction. Decidedly the flapper she is intended to characterize, Miss Brooks uses her accomplishments to advantage. She is a capricious young lady, with a knowledge of getting what she wants when she wants it. Not so convincing are the roles taken by Evelyn Brent and Lawrence Gray.” — Leona Pollack, Omaha World Herald
“Miss Brooks is quite acceptable as the flighty, impressionable Janie. It wouldn’t be surprising if some day they made an actress out of that young woman.” — Marc K. Bowman, Portland Oregonian
“Louise Brooks as the flapper sister practically runs away with the show.” — Harry Lang, San Francisco Examiner