The Sin of Nora Moran

The Sin of Nora Moran is a 1933 American pre-Code melodrama and proto-noir film directed by Phil Goldstone. It is based on the short story "Burnt Offering" by W. Maxwell Goodhue. The film is also known as Voice from the Grave (American reissue title). Since the protagonist is put to death for a crime she did not commit, some see the film as an argument against capital punishment.

The Sin of Nora Moran
Theatrical release poster Artwork by Alberto Vargas
Directed by	Phil Goldstone
Written by	W. Maxwell Goodhue Frances Hyland
Based on	Burnt Offering short story by W. Maxwell Goodhue
Produced by	Larry Darmour Phil Goldstone
Cinematography	Ira H. Morgan
Edited by	Otis Garrett
Music by	Heinz Roemheld
Production company	Majestic Pictures
Distributed by	Majestic Pictures
Release date	December 13, 1933 (1933-12-13)
Running time	65 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The painting for the movie poster is by Peruvian artist Alberto Vargas, who was working in the United States. He later became known for his images of the "Vargas Girls".

Plot

Edith Crawford, the widow of Governor Dick Crawford, confronts her brother, District Attorney John Grant, with a stack of unsigned love letters she found in her husband's private safe. John advises her to burn them. Edith refuses, vowing to punish the author of the letters. John gives her a newspaper clipping about Nora Moran, the first woman to be executed in the electric chair in twenty years. On death row, and under sedation, Nora remembers the events of her life. A flashback occurs, in which Nora, a five-year-old girl, is adopted by the Morans from a Catholic orphanage. Eight years later, Nora's parents are killed in a car crash. Nora pays off her parents' debt, and seeks work as a chorus girl but is unsuccessful. Paulino, a lion tamer, hires Nora as his assistant. One night, while Nora is sleeping, Paulino rapes her.

Nora befriends an older woman named Sadie, who gives her a hundred dollars. Nora quits the circus, and works at a nightclub in New York. There, she meets and begins an affair with Dick Crawford. He brings her to a rental house over the state line where he can see her twice a week. Meanwhile, Grant grooms Crawford to run for governor to further his own political ambitions. With the election two weeks away, Grant grows suspicious of their affair, to which he investigates Nora's personal history, including her connection to the circus playing in town.

Crawford wins the governorship and Grant becomes the new district attorney. To keep Nora quiet, Grant offers Nora a kickback but she refuses. Two hours later, she calls Grant to the house and shows him Paulino's body. Paulino had discovered Nora and Crawford were seeing each other, and had come to blackmail her. To save Crawford's political reputation, Nora and Grant plan to cover up Paulino's death. Paulino's body is moved near the train, but Nora is apprehended and arrested for first-degree murder.

Nora does not testify in her defense, and is found guilty. In the present, Grant shows Edith another letter Crawford had written to him. Inside his governor's mansion, Crawford learns of Nora's execution, and becomes haunted by his past relationship to Nora. He then remembers his last night with Nora, in which Crawford drives to see her again at the house. There, he discovers her and Paulino together. Crawford fights Paulino and kills him. Feeling guilty of murder, Nora consoles Crawford, telling him their mutual happiness will not be tainted by his crime.

Inside his imagination, Crawford talks to Nora's spirit, who tells him she does not fear death. He tries to prevent the execution but is too late. Consumed with guilt, Crawford writes a letter to Grant, confessing his crime and shoots himself. In the present, with Edith's consent, Grant burns all of Crawford's letters.

Cast

• Zita Johann as Nora Moran
• John Miljan as Paulino
• Alan Dinehart as District Attorney John Grant
• Paul Cavanagh as Governor Dick Crawford
• Claire Du Brey as Mrs. Edith Crawford
• Sarah Padden as Mrs. Watts
• Henry B. Walthall as Father Ryan
• Otis Harlan as Mr. Moran
• Aggie Herring as Mrs. Moran
• Cora Sue Collins as Nora Moran, as a Child
• Joseph W. Girard as Captain of Detectives
• Ann Brody as Matron
• Rolfe Sedan as Stage Manager
• Otto Yamaoka as Kito (uncredited)

Reception

The Chicago Daily Tribune wrote, "It might have been gripping if it weren't so confusing."

External links

• The Sin of Nora Moran at IMDb
• The Sin of Nora Moran at AllMovie
• The Sin of Nora Moran at the TCM Movie Database
• The Sin of Nora Moran at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
• The Sin of Nora Moran is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive