The Sin of Nora Moran/Prison Train
Two of the best small independent feature films of the 1930s and both influences on Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane." In "The Sin of Nora Moran" (1933, 64 min.), Nora, convicted of murder, is facing death by electrocution. Her life is replayed in a series of flashbacks involving those who knew her in this complex, yet emotionally powerful story starring Zita Johann, wife of John Houseman, soon to be Welles' partner in the Mercury Theater. "Prison Train" (1938, 63 min.) also embodies the best qualities of the low-budget film with its tight story of a train transporting prisoners to the infamous Alcatraz. With great characters and the taut action driving the film, "Prison Train" stars Linda Winters, who three years later under her own name,  Dorothy Comingore, played the role of Susan Alexander Kane.