Sister to Judas

Former silent screen actress Claire Windsor (nee Clara Cronk) stopped by Mayfair Pictures on her way down to play a poor but honest girl doing the best she can during the Depression. After she rejects a soon-to-be bestseller as being too trashy for the publishing house she works at, Claire's boss offers her a promotion but once he gets a gander at her grifter family, he changes his mind. This drives the girl to jump in a lake in Central Park where she's rescued by, who else, the novelist whose book she nixed. They get married but the guy's a weak sister and falls in with his wife's shady brothers which forces Claire to become "a sister to Judas" who sends her husband to prison.

There's more, too, in a fast moving 65 minutes that also includes guns, gas pellets, and a surprise happy ending. "The rocky road to love" certainly wasn't the road less traveled at Poverty Row but although Mayfair (with its one-room sets and facsimile of Central Park) made Monogram look like MGM, SISTER TO JUDAS made up for it with breezy lines like "Why do you always bet on horses with pansy names?" Within a couple of years, you wouldn't be hearing anything like that on screen.

See this movie. If you like 30's movies, you will like this one and even have difficulty stopping for popcorn. Great Screenplay, good Directing, and adequate acting. This is a good drama with some substance and a fantastic ending. You will see character development, human kindness, understanding, and selfless nobility. I will not spoil anything about the movie. My wife and I thought we saw every good 30's movie and were surprised to find this rare gem. We hope you enjoy it. It can be found on U-tube. Claire Windsor reminded me a bit of Marian Marsh in her acting. Apparently, she had quite a long career in the silent era and I did not detect any of that silent "body language" in her acting so apparently she must have transitioned quite smoothly into the talkies.