Happy Birthday: Claude Rains!

Claude Rains (10 November 1889 – 30 May 1967), his career spanned over 47 years. Rains came relatively late to film acting, his distinctive voice won him the title role in, The Invisible Man (1933). Rains later credited director Michael Curtiz with teaching him, "what not to do in front of a camera".

Following The Invisible Man, Universal Studios tried to typecast him in horror films, but he broke free, starting with the role of Prince John in, The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), then with his Academy Award-nominated performance as a corrupt senator in, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), and followed with probably his most famous role, the  French police Captain Renault in, Casablanca (1942).

Rains went on to perform in, Phantom of the Opera(1943). Bette Davis named him her favorite co-star, and they made four films together: Mr. Skeffington and Now, Voyager.

Next Rains, performed as, Julius Caesar in Caesar and Cleopatra (1945). He also played a refugee Nazi agent opposite Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman in, Notorious (1946). He then performed in, The Passionate Friends(1949).

Rains remained a popular character actor in the 1950s and 1960 and performed in many films. Two of his well-known later screen roles were as Dryden, a cynical British diplomat in Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and King Herod in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), his final film role.

TCM is celebrating Claude Rains birthday with the films listed below:

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.

Adventures of Robin Hood, The (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.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) .An idealistic Senate replacement takes on political corruption. Cast: James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains. Dir: Frank Capra.

Saturday's Children (1940) .A young inventor's new marriage is jeopardized by financial problems. Cast: John Garfield, Claude Rains, Anne Shirley. Dir: Vincent Sherman. 

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.

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.

Passage to Marseille (1944) . Devil's Island escapees join up with the Allies during World War II. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Claude Rains, Michele Morgan. Dir: Michael Curtiz.

Great Dramas: Mr. Skeffington (1944).

Mr. Skeffington (1944). Directed by Vincent Sherman, based on the novel of the same name by Elizabeth von Arnim. Cast: Bette Davis and Claude Rains.

When Fanny learns that her brother Trippy, has embezzled money from Jewish stockbroker Job Skeffington, she would do anything to save him, including marry his boss. Disgusted by the arrangement, in part because of his prejudice against Skeffington being a Jew, Trippy leaves to fight in the Lafayette Escadrille in World War I.

Job loves Fanny, but.. she does not return his feelings and mostly ignores him. She becomes pregnant with his child, but, after she learns of Trippy death, she blames him and leaves his bed. She enjoys playing the wealthy socialite, with a long line of much younger lovers.

Lonely, Job has his own affairs, when Fanny finds out, she divorces him. Her daughter, also named Fanny, wants to be with her father and begs him to take her with him to Europe. Fanny is relieved to be free of her child and does not see her for many years.

Even though Fanny lives a fast party girl life, she keeps her beauty until she catches diphtheria, it takes over health and her appearance. In denial, she invites her old lovers (and their wives) to a party. Everyone is shocked by how much Fanny has changed. To make things more complected, her latest suitor Johnny Mitchell, falls in love and marries her daughter, who has returned from Europe because of the rise of the Nazis. Now, Fanny is left very much alone.

Fanny's cousin George Trellis, brings Job back to Fanny's home, unannounced. The Nazis have left Job penniless and blind, George tells Fanny and he asks her if she will help Job, as he has nowhere else to go..

When she enters the parlor, Fanny, sobbing, takes his arm and guides him up the staircase, she tells the maid that "Mr. Skeffington has come home." Job had once, long ago, told Fanny that, "A woman is beautiful when she's loved, and only then." George tells Fanny that, at that moment, she has never been more beautiful.

I thought Claude Rains was wonderful as the patient Job Skeffington. Bette Davis, seems to really take her part as Fanny very seriously. Even though this may not be one of the best movies of Bette Davis career, it is one of my favorite movies.

Deception(1946)

Deception (1946). Directed Irving Rapper. The film is based on the play Monsieur Lamberthier by Louis Verneuil. The screenplay was written by John Collier and Joseph Than. Cast: Bette Davis, Paul Henreid and Claude Rains who had also performed together in, Now, Voyager (1942).

After a long separation, pianist Christine Radcliffe is reunited in New York with her fiancee, cellist Karel Novak. When Karel wants to know how Christine can afford such a beautiful apartment and clothes, Christine says that she is giving music lessons. Soon Christine receives a call from composer Alexander Hollenius, whose mistress she has been, and informs him of her up coming marriage. Hollenius arrives at a party celebrating the marriage and tells Karel that he believes the marriage will interfere with Christine's music. The following day, Christine visits Hollenius and begs him not to reveal their relationship. Later, Karel visits Hollenius, to his surprise, he finds Hollenius listening to a recording that Karel made. Hollenius is impressed by Karel's talent and offers him a cello concerto that he has just written. When Christine hears Karel practicing Hollenius' concerto, she becomes convinced that Hollenius intends to use the concerto to destroy Karel. When Christine shares her fears to Karel, he demands to know why she is afraid that Hollenius will take the concerto away from him, but Christine still refuses to tell her husband the truth. The next day, Christine returns to Hollenius' apartment to beg him not to take out his anger on Karel, he tells her that his first duty is to his music and that he is sure Karel will perform well. As she leaves the apartment, Christine sees Bertram Gribble, the orchestra's first cellist, waiting in the foyer and is sure that Hollenius intends to replace Karel with Gribble. On the night of the performance, after Karel has left for the concert hall, Christine again visits Hollenius and begs him to promise that he will not tell Karel of their relationship and again when Hollenius refuses, what will Christine do to keep her secret?

If you're in the mood Bette Davis-Claude Rains melodrama, you have to add this film to your "gotta see" list. Rains has some of the cruelest and wittiest lines in this film. Bette matches him with her display of emotions.



Paul Henreid, performed in his two most important films. In Now, Voyager(1942) and Casablanca(1942). He made regular film performances in the 1940s, and in the early 1950s began directing for both film and television. His film credits include The Spanish Main (1945), Of Human Bondage (1946), Song of Love (1947), Thief of Damascus (1952), Siren of Bagdad (1953), and Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1961). His television directorial credits include Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Maverick, Bonanza and The Big Valley. In 1964, Henreid directed Dead Ringer, which starred Bette Davis and featured, in a minor role, the director's daughter, Monika.