An inferior, yet worthy remake of Henri-Georges Clouzot's The Raven, The 13th Letter may take many of the prior's original ideas but Preminger adds a few of his own touches to make it much more of a compliment than a rip-off.  Missing is Clouzot's typically morose, seedy atmosphere dripping with contempt for (or is just disgrace of?) humanity, the dark shadows slowly revealing the sneaky people from which they begin, and the town full of people who almost seem to get what they deserve.  Preminger's lightens the mood taking a bit of the suspense away but leaving for sexual undertones that seem to dominate the male-female dialogue throughout the film.  My favorite line in the film "If I was your father, I would have spanked you!" gives you an idea of the double entendre that can be found throughout the film.

The townspeople, or at least the 3 or 4 major players, feel more like innocent victims rather than morally unsound characters whose karmic fate is finally giving them a kick in the behind.  There is sympathy for their situation with less concern, from the audience’s standpoint, for catching the penman and more of a desire for the characters to simply trust one another.  Of course Preminger's film still takes many of the same twists and turns as The Raven, but it still feels like a different film - more than simply an Americanized foreign film.  After seeing three Preminger films, it's clear he knows the material before he attacks it and although I haven't particularly loved any of them, my complaints tend to be small annoyances rather than large problems with any single aspect.

The unfortunate news about The 13th Letter is that it just can't be found anywhere.  Given the director's fame I imagine it will get a DVD release within a year or two, but considering all the bad films I see garnering a release each month it really should be sooner than that.  For now you'll have to settle for Clouzot's film, which fortunately can be enjoyed on the new Criterion DVD which will allow you to catch the suspense on the best imaginable print.