The Raven: is this film inspired by a true story?

Released in cinemas in 1943, the movie called The crowrealized by Henri-Georges Clouzotwill be rebroadcast on Sunday July 24, 2022, from 9:05 p.m. on C8. Worn by Pierre Fresnay, Ginette LeclercPierre Larquey and Micheline Francey, this feature film tells a story whose action takes place in a small provincial town. Within this municipality, a number of citizens receive anonymous letters which contain defamatory information, especially on one of the doctors in town. Thus, Doctor Germain, portrayed on screen by Pierre Fresnayis suspected by the author of the letters, which are signed by “The crow“, to perform clandestine abortions. The mystery surrounding the author of the letters ends up turning into violence.

For memory, this feature film caused serious problems for Henri-Georges Clouzot at the time of the Liberation. Indeed, the film was produced by Continental Films, which was a French production company with German capital, created on October 1, 1940 by Alfred Greven, at the request of Joseph Goebbels. Furthermore, this feature film refers to anonymous letters, which were common during the Occupation. Consequently, Le Corbeau was perceived by the Resistance and the communist press of the time as an attempt to denigrate the French people. Thereby, Henri-Georges Clouzot was first banned for life from the profession of director in France, and the film was banned. But these two prohibitions were finally lifted in 1947, on the initiative of Pierre Bourdan, then Minister of Youth, Arts and Letters.

The Raven: Henri-Georges Clouzot was inspired by a story that shook the city of Tulle

For the record, the scenario of Raven is actually inspired by the Tulle affair, a news item that took place between 1917 and 1922. In total, no less than 110 anonymous letters were sent to the inhabitants of Tulle during this period of time. The letters in question denounced the infidelity of some, as well as the bad behavior of others. They fueled all the conversations and worried the inhabitants. In the end, the police investigation will show that the author of these famous letters was in fact an employee of the Prefecture, responding to the name of Angèle Laval, the person who received the very first message from the Raven in 1917. Desperate to marry, this 34-year-old woman, a virgin, pious and living alone with her mother, was in love with her superior, Jean-Baptiste Moury. Declared criminally responsible for her actions, she was given a one-month suspended prison sentence and a 200-franc fine.

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