Sister to Judas (DVD)

A woman's attempts to rise above poverty lead to heartache and turmoil - and her own husband compares her to Biblical history's most infamous betrayer.

Bright and ambitious Anne Fane sees her publishing company job as a means to escape her dismal slum existence. She has an opportunity to become her boss' assistant - but then the boss pays an unexpected visit to her home and gets an eyeful of her shady brothers Elmer and Percy. Certain that the boss now thinks less of her, a distraught Anne attempts to drown herself, but is saved by Ronnie, a young newsman turned novelist. Anne and Ronnie fall in love and marry, but the weak Ronnie is soon drawn into a life of crime by Elmer and Percy. Anne resolves to stand by Ronnie through thick and thin - not to mention tragedy and tear gas!

Claire Windsor, elegant in the socialite and princess roles of her pre-talkie heyday, here plays a wrong-side-of-the-tracks gal anxious to make good. Forty years old at the time - just a few years younger than the actress playing her mother - she nevertheless delivers a powerful performance in the role of the pitiable Anne. The film's heart-tugging story was written by a newspaper reporter turned novelist and based on true-life incidents.

• drama