MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

Twilightfa Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

canuckteach I like (many) pre-code movies, simply because you never know what might happen. Quite a contrast to the formulaic stuff that was produced after 1935 (approx.) and, for those who think the 'Hayes' code is dead, the assembly-line production of rom-coms since 1990 rigidly stick to the same drivel: about 20 minutes from the end, a disagreement causes the intended couple to split, but miraculously re-unite by the final curtain. Nauseating.Sins of Norah Moran is a bit melodramatic in places, esp. in the early going, but Majestic Studios (one of the so-called 'Poverty Row' film-makers, who rented space and equipment from the mainstream guys to keep costs down) weaved a melancholy tale here of a sad-sack orphan who grows up only to have the 'system' beat her down. She stands accused of murdering a former co-worker at the circus (he sexually assaulted her - a modern screenplay might have her nominated for Congress), and facing a death sentence. Her recent 'governor' boyfriend probably did it, but will Nora blow the whistle? I was struck by how the 'governor', a married man, cavorts so openly with this pretty young girl - were the 'Press' so under control during this era or was there just so much of this 'running-around' going on that the gov could hide in plain sight?In time, he sees her at a 'kept' home every Friday & Monday - it kind of blows up when his wife finds a stack of unsigned love letters. The script makes no effort to condemn Nora or the Governor for their dallying, but, of course, it's poor Nora who will face severe consequences when the villain is suitably dispatched. Dang it-where's Perry Mason when you need him?But that's pre-code: anything can happen. That's what makes it so interesting. Great camera work & use of flashbacks & voice-overs. Experimental. Unorthodox. Compelling. Kudos to TCM for reviving interest in this era. 8/10

Michael_Elliott The Sin of Nora Moran (1933)** 1/2 (out of 4)Nora Moran (Zita Johann) is in prison about to die in the electric chair. We then hear about her troubled life, which has her in that spot. After leaving her job as a circus performer, the young woman meets a politician and soon after he's married they carry on the relationship, which leads to a murder that Nora is convicted of.THE SIN OF NORA MORAN seems to have picked up a few fans over the past few years because it's rather racy poster started going around social media and then more fans started to look for the film. The new cult following that the picture has earned is understandable and especially when you consider that these Pre-code films are more popular than ever. There's no question that this movie is far from a classic but at the same time there's no doubt that it's entertaining enough to where film buffs will want to watch it.The film's biggest problem is that it's obviously working with a small budget and director Phil Goldstone really doesn't bring much flare to the film. The cinematography is quite flat and there's a certain cheap feel all over the picture but there's still some stuff that works well. I thought the screenplay was good for the most part as it works as what would eventually become known as a film noir. The screenplay also keeps you off guard as to what really happen the night that Nora was arrested.The film also benefits from Johann being so good in the title role. She's certainly very attractive and fits the role nicely and also manages to deliver a full performance. The supporting cast includes John Miljan, Alan Dinehart and Paul Cavanagh as well as Henry B. Walthall in a brief part.

theowinthrop They try, but for a short film made on a shoestring it shows it.Trying to gain some mileage from the big sleeper hit of 1931, THE SIN OF MADELON CLAUDET, which won an Oscar for Helen Hayes, and to use the novel narrative style of THE POWER AND THE GLORY, THE SIN OF NORA MORAN has neither a major studio backing it with it's resources nor the screenplay from one of Hollywood's all time top talents (Preston Sturges). It is a curiosity today because of it's twisty "the wrong person is going to die in the chair" plot, and due to some of the performers - all of whom did better films. Zita Moran (as was mentioned in the synopsis) is sentenced to die for a murder she never committed. She does not want to hurt all the people she cared for by revealing the truth. So she does die in the end.SPOILER COMING UP.She had been having an affair with the Governor of the state, played by that underrated cultivated actor Paul Cavanagh. His performance is worth watching because he is torn by his own knowledge of her innocence and his sense of duty (somewhat comparable to "Governor" William Powell's sense of duty versus friendship for the doomed murderer Clark Gable in MANHATTAN MELODRAMA, a far more interesting and better produced film). In the end Cavanagh's tragedy is not being able to live with what has resulted from his actions and lack of them.Because of it's attempt to be far better than it is, and for Paul Cavanagh's under-appreciated career, I rank this a "6".

jorozko This film is a great surprise. Apart from being thematically unusual (murder, suicide, corruption, capital punishment, rape, etc) it is visually astonishing and years ahead of its time, anticipating lots of stuff from 40's film noir to art-house European cinema (Bergman's Wild Strawberries for instance).The film uses the `narratage' technique first used the same year by Preston Sturges in `The Power and the Glory' (also a very interesting film, directed by William K. Howard and a clear precedent of `Citizen Kane') which consists of voice-over narration and flashbacks and flashforwards, but if takes it much further with a very complex structure that includes flashbacks within flashbacks, dreams, hallucinations, flashforwards and characters appearing in scenes where they were not originally present and commenting the action with the main character.The film is also extraordinarily shot with quasi expressionistic photography, lots of tracking shots, montages and very imaginative use of stock footage. To make all this even more admirable the film was produced on a very low B budget and it runs only 65 minutes.