WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers
Born: 10th November 1898
Died: 30th May 1967 (aged 77)
William Claude Rains was born to stage actor Frederick William Rains and his wife, Emily. He was one of four, out of twelve, to survive past infancy. He was born in Clapham, London. Because of his father’s profession the young Rains was raised in and around theatres and learnt every aspect of theatre life from a young age and made his stage debut at the age of ten at London’s Haymarket Theatre. At the age of 23 he moved to New York but, with the outbreak of World War I, returned to England two years later to serve in the London Scottish Regiment. After two years service Rains was caught in a gas attack and suffered 90% vision loss in his right eye and damaged vocal chords – he was withdrawn from combat but instead served in the Transport Workers Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment. By the end of the war Rains had been promoted to Captain and after the war he became an adjutant (an officer who helped commissioned officers with administration – sort of the Human Resources for the Army). Rains stayed in England after the war and worked on his acting, an ability which was recognised by Herbert Beerbohm Tree, Shakespearean actor and founder of RADA. Beerbohm paid for elocution lessons and helped Rains become an eligible actor gaining recognition in London’s West End theatres and in turn his film debut in a silent film called Build Thy House. At the age of 43 Universal Pictures offered him a screen test for A Bill of Divorcement and although the test was a bust it did lead him (allegedly) to the role of The Invisible Man in James Whale’s film of the same name as his unique voice was overheard from the room next door!
It’s sad to say this about his first role, on his top five, but I’m not quite sure I understand what role Rains’ character has in Lawrence of Arabia, he’s obviously not military but is he political if so for who? There is a reference to the French towards the end but unless I missed something there is no clarification – not that that stops Claude playing the role it’s just that I’m not sure if his portrayal is right, if you know what I mean? When we first meet Mr Dryden he seems quite jovial; he and Lawrence they have a mutual respect for each other, and Rains’ and O’Toole really play off each other well but I found in the later scenes there is something lost in his performance he is quite muted. He has a few moments but otherwise I found him lacklustre and maybe that’s because I don’t understand where his character fits in and that got in the way of my enjoyment of his portrayal. Now we have a character I could really understand – Alexander Sebastian in Notorious. As Sebastian Claude Rains cuts quite a dashing, yet unnerving, figure. Considering his role is supposed to be the ‘villain’ in this story he is very likeable which makes it worse when he realises that he has been duped as there is little change in his portrayal – the only sweat we see on his brow is when he realises that his compatriots might know what he has done! Probably the longest film on the list but the shortest screen time and short but powerful is the only way to describe Rains’ King Herod in The Greatest Story Ever Told. He, at first comes across as fragile but the gravitas and strength he conveys in his two short scenes make him a worthy actor to play a King. Next we have Casablanca probably the film people think of first when thinking about Rains and the more I watch it the more I love it and the more you see the subtleties of the characters come through; the first time I watched it I didn’t realise how corrupt Rains’ Captain Renault really is but he knows he is and he owns it. Rains plays with the character so well that there seems to be no threat from his character to any of the others but he could probably be quite dangerous if he is pushed into a corner. The way he and Bogart play off each other is perfect, their timing is impeccable, and I know when Bogart says at the end of the film “Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship” it’s Rick talking to Renault but the way they play their two characters you could easily believe that this was also about Bogart and Rains themselves. Honestly didn’t recognise Rains in this last film, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, he has white hair and it’s probably the first time I’ve heard him with any sort of accent but I can definitely say I do not like his character. And the reason I do not like Rains’ Senator Joseph Paine, in fact I could go as far as to say I hated him, is not because of his portrayal totally the opposite I think you are supposed to dislike him, he is a corrupt member of the American Senate after all! But there are times when an actor struggles to play these styles of character but not here – which is what I love about Claude Rains as an actor he has seemed to have no prejudices as to the roles he took (let’s not forget this is the man who took on the role of the Invisible Man and spent all but seconds with his face wrapped in bandages!). If an actor can convey a character that an audience is supposed to hate he has succeeded in a better job than playing one that everyone loves because at the end of the day everyone wants to be liked!
This is the bit where I normally say which of Claude Rains’ characters is my favourite, but I have to admit that Mr Rains’ has me stumped just because I have enjoyed all the characters he has portrayed – well maybe not Dryden in Lawrence of Arabia but I blame the writers/director/editors for that not for his performance. I love The Invisible Man – having to act a role without being able to use facial expressions is impressive (and then to be immortalised by Richard O’Brien in the song Science Fiction/Double Feature for The Rocky Horror Picture Show says it is an iconic role). His Captain Renault alongside Bogart in Casablanca is close to making it one of my favourite films of all time – there is a certain charm he portrays that you can believe young ladies were drawn to. Good guy or bad guy Claude Rains has me captivated from the moment he steps on the screen which is why I cannot decide how to write this paragraph as I usually would!
Claude Rains was not only an accomplished stage and screen actor, in fact he was possibly the first actor to be paid a million dollar salary (for Caesar and Cleopatra in 1945 – that’s about $16,800,000 in today’s money), he was nominated for four Oscars (which he never won) but was also a teacher; he taught actors like Charles Laughton and (Sir) John Gielgud at RADA; and he was also a gentleman farmer (that is not something you’d have guessed I bet!). He ran the farm with his fourth wife, Frances, – he would plough the fields and worked their vegetable garden and, during filming, would read about agriculture and would go home with new ideas for the farm. The farm was sold when he and Frances got divorced. He was married a further two times but he only had one child, Jennifer, and that was with Frances. Jennifer followed in her father’s footsteps and is an accomplished actor herself acting under the name Jessica Rains. Claude Rains became an American citizen in 1939, he was an alcoholic and died in Laconia, New Hampshire of an abdominal haemorrhage due to cirrhosis of the liver at the age of 77. He is buried in Red Hill Cemetery, Moultenborough, and his tombstone reads “All things once, Are things forever, Soul, once living, lives forever”.
