The 13th Letter

The 13th Letter

21/2/1951 1h 25m 5.5/10

Overview

A new doctor in a quiet Quebec town sparks rumors and accusations when anonymous letters allege an affair with a married woman.

Director

Otto Preminger

Top Billed Cast

Charles Boyer

Charles Boyer

Dr. Paul Laurent

Michael Rennie

Michael Rennie

Dr. Pearson

Linda Darnell

Linda Darnell

Denise Turner

Judith Evelyn

Judith Evelyn

Sister Marie Corbin

Françoise Rosay

Françoise Rosay

Mrs. Gauthier

Constance Smith

Constance Smith

Cora Laurent

Reviews

CinemaSerf

CinemaSerf

4/4/2022

6/10

This film is probably more notable for it's distinctive voices than for it's action or story. You can instantly recognise the dulcet tones of Charles Boyer and Michael Rennie long before we get into the nitty gritty of what is quite a complex plot. Building on the innate nosiness of small town folks, we find ourselves in a small Quebecois town where Rennie ("Dr. Pearson") arrives to set up his practice. Now there is already a doctor here (Boyer) but he is getting on a bit and his wife "Denise" (Linda Darnell) starts to visit the new fella to treat her never ending list of (largely fictitious) ailments. "Pearson" is not remotely interested in any form of assignation with the younger woman - he has demons of his own on that from, but when egregious letters start arriving signed only with the sign of a quill, the tongues start to wag at the new physician's expense. He determines to get to the bottom of this mystery before what's left of his reputation goes the way of the dodo. Otto Preminger could have dug a bit deeper into the mystery and immersed us a bit better in this quite intriguing story, but as it is it is all just a little bit light and actually quite slow at times. A sort of private detective story that moves in fits and starts with a great deal of score. Still, Boyer is on quite good form and even if Rennie is a slightly unlikely romantic hero, this film still holds the attention well enough before an ending that I wasn't quite expecting.

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