A small French village is plagued by a poison pen writer, whose principal target is the town doctor. The vitriolic letters wreak so much havoc that soon neighbour turns upon neighbour. Eventually, the doctor himself is suspected of writing the letters, cloaking himself in the respectability of his office. When the psychiatrist starts receiving letters as well, he decides to investigate. Concluding that his own wife is the culprit, he has her committed. But soon after, more letters arrive … ‘Le Corbeau’ is a realistic portrait of Occupied France and its obsession for petty bickering and vengeful denunciation. Produced by the German production company ‘Continental Films’ the film was condemned as unpatriotic after the Liberation, and director Henri-Georges Clouzot was banned from filmmaking until 1947. Le Corbeau’ was remade in Hollywood by Otto Preminger as ‘The 13th Letter’ (1951).
Credits: Producer: Rene Montis ; director: Henri-Georges Clouzot ; writers, Henri-Georges Clouzot, Louis Chavance ; photography, Nicolas Hayer ; music, Tony Aubin ; sound, William-Robert Sivel.
Cast: Pierre Fresnay, Micheline Francey, Ginette Leclerc, Roger Blin, Jeanne Fusier-Gir, Pierre Bertin, Pierre Larquey, Jean Brochard, Helene Manson, Noel Roquevert, Louis Seigner, Sylvie.
Content notification
Our collection comprises over 40,000 moving image works, acquired and catalogued between the 1940s and early 2000s. As a result, some items may reflect outdated, offensive and possibly harmful views and opinions. ACMI is working to identify and redress such usages.
Learn more about our collection and our collection policy here. If you come across harmful content on our website that you would like to report, let us know.
How to watch
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
X000340
Languages
English
French
Subject category
Foreign language films
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Black and White
Holdings
16mm film; Limited Access Print (Section 2)