Sinner Take All 1936

Aaron Lampier Charley Grapewin is a wealthy New York City magnate who receives a chilling death threat mailed to him, prompting a high-stakes search by his family. The task lands on Ernie Hyams Bruce Cabot, a reporter-turned-lawyer, who is sent by his former editor MacKelvey Stanley Ridges to find Lampier’s daughter, Lorraine Margaret Lindsay. Lorraine has little patience for being uprooted from the glittering nightclub and casino run by Frank Penny Joseph Calleia, while her brother Stephen lurks in the shadows of this dangerous puzzle. A separate, ominous note also reaches David Lampier Theodore von Eltz, adding another layer of fear to the family’s already precarious situation. As a result, Ernie is thrust into a case that will force him to probe deep into the Lampier dynasty’s secrets and the night-world surrounding Penny’s establishment.

The Lampier will stipulates that the estate be shared equally among the children, with charities the fallback if any child predeceases the patriarch. Soon after, Stephen becomes the next target. An associate of Penny’s is driving Stephen’s car when police intervene, uncovering Stephen’s corpse slumped inside with six shots to the head. The driver claims ignorance about the stolen vehicle’s grisly contents. Captain Bill Royce [Edward Pawley] of the Homicide Squad arrests Penny, but lacks sufficient evidence to hold him, allowing him to walk free while the investigation continues. In a grim twist, it turns out that David is not dead after all—he has been hiding—and when Ernie and MacKelvey finally locate him, he is found dead from a stabbing, adding another layer of mystery to the case.

The danger intensifies when Aaron Lampier is the next victim: a man slips into his suite, and after a struggle, flings him over the terrace to his death. With Lorraine’s safety in mind, Ernie devises a dramatic trap. He spreads the story that Lorraine plans to flee at midnight and gathers the prime suspects at Penny’s nightclub to witness her departure. Lorraine’s drink is poisoned, but a swift doctor’s intervention saves her life. In the aftermath, Ernie identifies the killer: MacKelvey, who had the opportunity to slip poison into the liquor. The editor confesses that he needed more money to placate his wife Alicia Vivienne Osborne, arguing that with the Lampiers eliminated, he could seize control of one of their lucrative businesses. The revelation exposes a calculating plot rooted in greed and desperation.

In the end, the relationship between Ernie and Lorraine deepens into something lasting, and the couple’s union marks a quiet, hopeful closing note amid a tapestry of ambition, loyalty, and deceit.