Claude Rains

[moira finnie]

Is anyone else interested in Claude Rains as the Star of the Month in September?


You are welcome to use this thread to post your thoughts on Rains and his films throughout the next few weeks.

I'm delighted that they have featured Rains, since the four time Oscar nominee is always an entertaining actor to me, with elements of dark and light in each of his roles, not to mention one of the most beautiful speaking voices, even though he started life as a Cockney lad with a speech impediment. Working under his mentor, Herbert Beerbohm Tree, he cultivated his speech to become an actor, becoming a favorite of George Bernard Shaw. The furry quality of his voice was brought on by his exposure to gas in WWI. Whether raising an eyebrow, being "shocked shocked" to discover gambling going on, or simply lending his great presence to fine and not so fine movies, he never failed to entertain and make even conflicted men understandable.

Though I've been a member of discussion groups devoted to Claude Rains, read both John Soister's bio-bibliography, and Claude Rains: An Actor's Voice by David Skal and Jessica Rains (the actor's daughter), the man remains somewhat unknowable. That's okay, I suppose, because a viewer learns just about everything about various aspects of his interpretation human nature from watching his beautifully crafted performances.

You can see a complete list of the Claude Rains lineup for September below.

If there was only one relatively obscure movie I'd recommend to others to see how winning this actor can be, it would have to be Daughters Courageous (1939) in which he plays a scalawag married to Fay Bainter (his co-star in this well acted Edmund Goulding film, White Banners). He also shows great rapport in Daughters Courageous with Group Theater-trained John Garfield, and the unlikely pair worked well together in six films.

There are also some moments when Rains, who plays a failure in the flawed film, The White Tower, raises the level of the film to near tragic proportions. I find him to be particularly poignant in his last scenes on the mountaintop. Too bad the rest of the movie wasn't as good as he was here.

Btw, if I had to mention a Claude movie to avoid on the schedule, it would probably be Sealed Cargo, a movie that was DOA, despite Rains and Dana Andrews' participation, (neither man looks well in this turgid movie and both seem at a very low ebb).

I hope someday that TCM will have a chance to show The Invisible Man (1933), The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935) , The Man Who Reclaimed His Head (1934), Crime Without Passion (1934) and The Clairvoyant (1934). They have shown The Invisible Man and The Clairvoyant before, but I don't believe any of the other early rarities have been broadcast before. I would also like to have seen Saturday's Children (1940), White Banners (1938) and Rope of Sand (1949) on the schedule. He is superb in both of the first two films and his arched eyebrow and elegant duplicity raise the level of the latter, which is a pretty good Burt Lancaster film. Someday I hope to see Strange Holiday (1945), an Arch Oboler movie I've heard much about, but which seems lost on a shelf somewhere.

Claude Rains Schedule on TCM in September


September 2, 2009

8:00 PM
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
An idealistic Senate replacement takes on political corruption. Cast: James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains. Dir: Frank Capra. BW-130 mins, TV-G, CC

10:15 PM
Casablanca (1942)
An American saloon owner in North Africa is drawn into World War II when his lost love turns up. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid. Dir: Michael Curtiz. BW-103 mins, TV-PG, CC, DVS

12:15 AM
Mr. Skeffington (1944)
A flighty beauty marries a stockbroker for convenience and almost ruins both their lives. Cast: Bette Davis, Claude Rains, Walter Abel. Dir: Vincent Sherman. BW-146 mins, TV-G, CC, DVS

2:45 AM
Notorious (1946)
A U.S. agent recruits a German expatriate to infiltrate a Nazi spy ring in Brazil. Cast: Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains. Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. BW-101 mins, TV-PG, CC

4:30 AM
Four Daughters (1938)
A small-town family's peaceful life is shattered when one daughter falls for a rebellious musician. Cast: Claude Rains, John Garfield, Priscilla Lane. Dir: Michael Curtiz. BW-90 mins, TV-G, CC

6:15 AM
Daughters Courageous (1939)
A father returns to the family he left years earlier and tries to solve their problems. Cast: Claude Rains, John Garfield, Priscilla Lane. Dir: Michael Curtiz. BW-107 mins, TV-G, CC

8:15 AM
Four Wives (1939)
Three married women play matchmaker for their widowed sister. Cast: Claude Rains, Priscilla Lane, Rosemary Lane. Dir: Michael Curtiz. BW-99 mins, TV-G, CC

September 9

8:00 PM
Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)
A prizefighter who died before his time is reincarnated as a tycoon with a murderous wife. Cast: Robert Montgomery, Evelyn Keyes, Claude Rains. Dir: Alexander Hall. BW-94 mins, TV-G, CC

9:45 PM
Angel On My Shoulder (1946)
The Devil sends a murdered gangster to Earth as a respected judge. Cast: Paul Muni, Anne Baxter, Claude Rains. Dir: Archie Mayo. BW-101 mins, TV-PG, CC

11:30 PM
Now, Voyager (1942)
A repressed spinster is transformed by psychiatry and her love for a married man. Cast: Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains. Dir: Irving Rapper. BW-118 mins, TV-G, CC, DVS

1:30 AM
Deception (1946)
A woman tries to protect her refugee husband from her rich and powerful ex-lover. Cast: Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains. Dir: Irving Rapper. BW-112 mins, TV-PG, CC

3:30 AM
Kings Row (1942)
Small town scandals inspire an idealistic young man to take up psychiatry. Cast: Ann Sheridan, Robert Cummings, Ronald Reagan. Dir: Sam Wood. BW-127 mins, TV-PG, CC, DVS

September 16

8:00 PM
Passage to Marseilles (1944)
Devil's Island escapees join up with the Allies during World War II. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Claude Rains, Michele Morgan. Dir: Michael Curtiz. BW-109 mins, TV-PG, CC

10:00 PM
Sealed Cargo (1951)
A fisherman tangles with Nazi smugglers off the Canadian coast. Cast: Dana Andrews, Carla Balenda, Claude Rains. Dir: Alfred Werker. BW-89 mins, TV-G, CC

11:45 PM
Juarez (1939)
True story of Mexico's Abraham Lincoln and his fight against Napoleon's empire. Cast: Paul Muni, Bette Davis, Brian Aherne. Dir: William Dieterle. BW-121 mins, TV-G, CC

2:00 AM
Caesar And Cleopatra (1945)
Julius Caesar gives the famed Egyptian queen lessons in government. Cast: Claude Rains, Vivien Leigh, Stewart Granger. Dir: Gabriel Pascal. C-128 mins, TV-G

4:30 AM
Anthony Adverse (1936)
An orphan runs off to a life of adventure, then returns to France in search of the girl he left behind. Cast: Fredric March, Olivia de Havilland, Claude Rains. Dir: Mervyn LeRoy. BW-141 mins, TV-G, CC

17 Thursday
7:00 AM
Hearts Divided (1936)
Napoleon's younger brother falls for a girl from Baltimore. Cast: Marion Davies, Dick Powell, Claude Rains. Dir: Frank Borzage. BW-76 mins, TV-G, CC

8:30 AM
Stolen Holiday (1937)
A Paris fashion model marries a fortune hunter to protect him from the law. Cast: Claude Rains, Kay Francis, Ian Hunter. Dir: Michael Curtiz. BW-80 mins, TV-G, CC

10:00 AM
Lady With Red Hair (1940)
An actress hopes to regain her lost son by making it to the top. Cast: Miriam Hopkins, Claude Rains, Richard Ainley. Dir: Curtis Bernhardt. BW-78 mins, TV-G, CC

September 23

8:00 PM
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
The bandit king of Sherwood Forest leads his Merry Men in a battle against the corrupt Prince John. Cast: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone. Dir: William Keighley, Michael Curtiz. C-102 mins, TV-G, CC, DVS

10:00 PM
The Sea Hawk (1940)
A British buccaneer holds the Spanish fleet at bay with the covert approval of Elizabeth I. Cast: Errol Flynn, Claude Rains, Flora Robson. Dir: Michael Curtiz. BW-128 mins, TV-G, CC

12:15 AM
The Prince And The Pauper (1937)
Rousing adaptation of the Mark Twain tale of a 16th-century prince who trades places with a lookalike peasant. Cast: Errol Flynn, Claude Rains, Billy and Bobby Mauch. Dir: William Keighley. BW-118 mins, TV-G, CC, DVS

2:30 AM
The White Tower (1950)
Mountain climbers in the Swiss Alps mull over past problems while trying to conquer a perilous peak. Cast: Glenn Ford, Alida Valli, Lloyd Bridges. Dir: Ted Tetzlaff. C-98 mins, TV-G

4:15 AM
Gold Is Where You Find It (1938)
A gold strike in California triggers a bitter feud between farmers and prospectors. Cast: George Brent, Olivia de Havilland, Claude Rains. Dir: Michael Curtiz. C-94 mins, TV-G, CC

24 Thursday
6:00 AM
The Passionate Friends (1949)
A married woman has one last fling with her childhood sweetheart. Cast: Ann Todd, Claude Rains, Trevor Howard. Dir: David Lean. BW-91 mins, TV-PG

September 30

8:00 PM
They Won't Forget (1937)
Bigotry flares when a Jewish businessman is accused of killing a small-town girl in the South. Cast: Claude Rains, Gloria Dickson, Allyn Joslyn. Dir: Mervyn LeRoy. BW-95 mins, TV-G, CC

10:00 PM
Twilight Of Honor (1963)
A struggling lawyer takes on a controversial murder case that could make or break him. Cast: Richard Chamberlain, Claude Rains, Nick Adams. Dir: Boris Sagal. BW-104 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format

12:00 AM
They Made Me A Criminal (1939)
A young boxer flees to farming country when he thinks he's killed an opponent in the ring. Cast: John Garfield, Claude Rains, Gloria Dickson. Dir: Busby Berkeley. BW-92 mins, TV-PG, CC

1:45 AM
The Unsuspected (1947)
The producer of a radio crime series commits the perfect crime, then has to put the case on the air. Cast: Claude Rains, Joan Caulfield, Constance Bennett. Dir: Michael Curtiz. BW-103 mins, TV-PG, CC

3:30 AM
Where Danger Lives (1950)
A psychopath draws her doctor into her murderous schemes. Cast: Robert Mitchum, Faith Domergue, Claude Rains. Dir: John Farrow. BW-80 mins, TV-PG, CC

[Birdy]

I'm looking forward to Mr. Rains month (although not quite enough comedies for me), my favorite being Casablanca. I'll record a couple I've never seen, including Stolen Holiday with Kay Francis.

[moira finnie]

I'm looking forward to Mr. Rains month (although not quite enough comedies for me), my favorite being Casablanca. I'll record a couple I've never seen, including Stolen Holiday with Kay Francis.

Well, even when he's in pretty grim dramas, I find most of Rains' performances have some funny moments, even if he's just raising an eyebrow. For instance, Deception (1946), which is on at 1:30am on 9/10 is one of his most theatrical and funniest performances in what I guess is a melodrama. According to most accounts, Rains wrote most of his own lines as Hollenius the composer too.

You may enjoy Stolen Holiday (1937) which was based on the Stavisky fraud case in the '30s. According to most accounts, poor Rains had to spend most of the movie on an apple box or a ramp to appear as tall as Kay. It's a good thing he thought it was amusing to have to go through such rigamarole to give a performance! Wish that TCM would unearth the Alain Renais version of Stavisky (1974). Though it stars Jean Paul Belmondo, it is said to have been stolen by one of the last good performances of Charles Boyer.

[srowley75]

I think it's outstanding that Rains is finally getting his own Star of the Month tribute, but like Moira I wish it would've included at least one or two of Rains' rarer Universal/Paramount films (and I thought the same thing during the Laughton tribute a few months ago). The only one I'm really intrigued by is Hearts Divided, which I believe has been broadcast before.

He was one of those actors who, despite often cast in supporting roles, should've been awarded an honorary Oscar in his old age. I just watched a Bette Davis interview a couple nights ago in which she gushed about how immensely talented he was - I get the impression she liked working with him more than virtually any other actor.

-Stephen

[Mr. Arkadin]

Rains is one of the few actors that I will record anything he made, just because he made it. Like you, I'm looking forward to Daughters Courageous, but also wondered why Saturday's Children was not included. I look forward to great month.

[ChiO]

Moirafinnie wrote:

Wish that TCM would unearth the Alain Renais version of Stavisky (1974). Though it stars Jean Paul Belmondo, it is said to have been stolen by one of the last good performances of Charles Boyer.

Another gem worth rediscovery. I don't consider it to have been stolen by Boyer -- not with Belmondo in the lead, Sacha Vierny's gorgeous cinematography, a score by Stephen Sondheim, and Resnais on the premises -- but he is excellent in what turned out to be be his next-to-last role.

[jdb1]

There are quite a few Rains films on the schedule that I've never seen. But then, it won't really matter which films are shown -- I could listen to that man talk all day. I think he had one of the most melifluous and seductive voices in the movies. Although their voices are not the same, I find James Mason to have the same attractive vocal quality. Talk to me, boys.

[klondike]

There are quite a few Rains films on the schedule that I've never seen. But then, it won't really matter which films are shown -- I could listen to that man talk all day. I think he had one of the most melifluous and seductive voices in the movies. Although their voices are not the same, I find James Mason to have the same attractive vocal quality. Talk to me, boys.

Judith, if you don't quit stealing all the best *@#)#:#(#@* observations before I get to post them, I'm gonna have to see you on the corner after school!

[jdb1]

There are quite a few Rains films on the schedule that I've never seen. But then, it won't really matter which films are shown -- I could listen to that man talk all day. I think he had one of the most melifluous and seductive voices in the movies. Although their voices are not the same, I find James Mason to have the same attractive vocal quality. Talk to me, boys.

Judith, if you don't quit stealing all the best *@#)#:#(#@* observations before I get to post them, I'm gonna have to see you on the corner after school!

Soooo --- Claude Rains' voice gets you all quivery too, eh?

[klondike]

Well . . truth tell, I have been drawn under the spell of Claude Rains' vocal witchery numerous times . . but in this case . . naww, I 'm just lookin' for an excuse to draw sparks from a fiery woman . .

[jdb1]

Well . . truth tell, I have been drawn under the spell of Claude Rains' vocal witchery numerous times . . but in this case . . naww, I 'm just lookin' for an excuse to draw sparks from a fiery woman . .

Harumph!

As I have so often said to the other men in my life: Don't get my Italian up, buddy. I get very Mediterranean when I'm peeved.

[And a propos of nothing, Klonny, this reminds me of an old flame who used to grab my hands when we were talking and say: "Hah! Half Italian, half Jewish -- let's see you finish this sentence without using your hands!]

Sorry ------ And now back to Mr. Rains . . . . . . . .

[rudyfan]

Is anyone else interested in Claude Rains as the Star of the Month in September?

(raising hand) Me! Yes!

My only regret is TCM is not showing Crime Without Passion, but I can quibble too much, loads of good stuff. He brightened every film he was in.

I've been wanting to see Passionate Friends, I missed it last time it was on. Looking forward to all of them!

Now Voyager, Deception and Kings Row is a nice triple feature!

[moira finnie]

Donna, I think you'll enjoy Claude in The Passionate Friends. He is very effective as a powerful, wounded man in love with an unfaithful woman (Ann Todd). While I didn't warm to the movie when I first saw it, Miss Goddess helped me to see the light on a second look.

I agree about that triple feature. Wish we could change the ending of Now, Voyager so that Jaquith (Claude Rains) and Bette wind up looking at the moon and stars together.

[rohanaka]

I have very much enjoyed catching some of the Claude Rains films this month.

One I had not seen before (that I was able to catch last night) was The Unsuspected. I really enjoyed all the little (and not so little) twists and turns in this one. There were a few moments that were a bit far fetched, but overall I found this film very enjoyable.

And as much as I have always considered myself a "James Mason" kinda gal (when it comes to "smooth" voices) oh me oh my.... I am starting to get a nice appeciation for Mr. Rains after watching this film...

Someone SO rotten should NOT have sounded so NICE...ha.