Dr. Remy Germain (Pierre Fresnay) is a doctor in the small French town of Saint Robin. Recently there have been some poison pen letters sent to various people in town. The main focus of the letters is Remy. The letters, signed using the pseudonym “The Raven”, have been accusing in their manner. According to the letters Remy is having an affair with Laura Vorzet (Micheline Francey), the young wife of elderly Dr. Michel Vorzet (Pierre Larquey). Dr. Vorzet is a psychiatrist.
Remy is also accused of doing illegal abortions, especially on the women he is having affairs with. Others begin to get letters too. Both Dr. and Mrs. Vorzet get them as well as other prominent people in town. The letters accuse others of doing bad things, but they mainly focus on Remy and telling town’s people how horrible the doctor is.
One of the patients in the hospital, Francois (Roger Blin) has cancer and is dying but wasn’t told that he was terminal. He receives a letter telling him of his illness and that he is dying. Unable to handle the news, he commits suicide. His mother (Sylvie) vows to kill whoever did this to her son. She believes she knows who is responsible but is waiting until she has proof to do anything about it.
Eventually most of the people in town receive a letter either accusing them of something or spreading rumors about what other people were doing. Laura’s sister, Marie Corbin (Helena Manson), a nurse at the hospital, gets accused of being the Raven. The town turns against her, and she is arrested. The letters continue to arrive. Others begin to be suspected. Tension in the village is palpable until the townspeople begin to turn on each other.
“Le Corbeau” AKA “The Raven” was released in 1943 and was directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot. It is a French crime mystery with pre-noir elements. It was remade in 1951 as “The 13th Letter” and was directed by Otto Preminger.
The movie was made during the German occupation of France by a German production company, Continental Films. After WWII the film was vilified for making the French people look like petulant gossips. Director Clouzot was banned from directing in France. The ban only lasted until 1947. The movie itself was banned in France until 1969.
The Vichy government, which collaborated with the German government, banned the film because of its undertones of immorality among other reasons. The fact that the film shows the potential dangers of finking on your friends and neighbors could also have something to do with it. The German and Vichy governments were fond of neighbors turning in neighbors and weren’t happy about people learning that there were sometimes consequences involved.
The film is loosely based on a real-life event. In Tulle, France in 1917 people received anonymous letters signed “the eye of the tiger”. Between 1917 and 1922 over 1000 anonymous letters, some of them with pornographic drawings, were delivered to residents. It resulted in several suicides among the townspeople.