Re: Claude Rains in September
Posted: October 2nd, 2009, 8:36 am
I personally love Now Voyager, and Casablanca, but of course everyone does.
Adventures of Robin Hood is a wonderful film, with three great villains. Rains' slimy, syrupy-voiced, LAZY, snake-in-the-grass Prince John will always be the standard, the villain every actor aspires to play but can't ever match. He remains the best, considering all the other historical epics to come. Right through today. I even include the slimy, syrupy voiced, and lazy John Castle, as Geoffrey in The Lion in Winter, who does the best ever Claude Rains imitation. He comes close, but fails, as all actors will fail when compared to this genius.
His incredible performance in They Won't Forget really wows me. In fact, the whole movie wows me. For years all I ever read about this film was how Lana Turner got discovered - the sweater girl, etc. I finally saw it last year on TCM. Well, the movie is achingly good and Rains is the best in a cast of really great character actors - he and Allyn Joslyn are truly horrifying. But Rains is the glue that holds the entire story in place and the final scene is as good a one as I have ever seen. The film is really underappreciated.
In Passionate Friends I found myself sweating waiting for Rains to discover his wife in the arms of another man. When he does, it is the most bone chilling moment I have ever seen. I don't know how he does it, he seems to do nothing, but your heart just sinks into your stomach watching him watch her....
When watching different actors play Caesar, I ALWAYS have a little niggling voice in the back of my head that says, "YOU are Caesar? You've got to be kidding me. You aren't anything close to powerful enough, charismatic enough, or brilliant enough to be playing the great Caesar!" EXCEPT for Claude Rains. He simply IS that great.
Adventures of Robin Hood is a wonderful film, with three great villains. Rains' slimy, syrupy-voiced, LAZY, snake-in-the-grass Prince John will always be the standard, the villain every actor aspires to play but can't ever match. He remains the best, considering all the other historical epics to come. Right through today. I even include the slimy, syrupy voiced, and lazy John Castle, as Geoffrey in The Lion in Winter, who does the best ever Claude Rains imitation. He comes close, but fails, as all actors will fail when compared to this genius.
His incredible performance in They Won't Forget really wows me. In fact, the whole movie wows me. For years all I ever read about this film was how Lana Turner got discovered - the sweater girl, etc. I finally saw it last year on TCM. Well, the movie is achingly good and Rains is the best in a cast of really great character actors - he and Allyn Joslyn are truly horrifying. But Rains is the glue that holds the entire story in place and the final scene is as good a one as I have ever seen. The film is really underappreciated.
In Passionate Friends I found myself sweating waiting for Rains to discover his wife in the arms of another man. When he does, it is the most bone chilling moment I have ever seen. I don't know how he does it, he seems to do nothing, but your heart just sinks into your stomach watching him watch her....
When watching different actors play Caesar, I ALWAYS have a little niggling voice in the back of my head that says, "YOU are Caesar? You've got to be kidding me. You aren't anything close to powerful enough, charismatic enough, or brilliant enough to be playing the great Caesar!" EXCEPT for Claude Rains. He simply IS that great.
Alas.. you have guessed the REAL reason why I have always avoided that movie, though... ha. I AM that obvious, I guess.. ha. I have had NUMEROUS opportunities to watch Casablanca over the years and have let them all slip right through my fingers.. all because of my "Bogie" issues...ha. 
