Claude Rains: An Actor's Voice (Screen Classics) (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Jessica Rains (Author)
Key Phrases: New York, The Invisible Man, Bette Davis (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

""[Claude Rains] was perfect. There's a very small group of actors who seemingly never made a mistake: Walter Huston, Spencer Tracy, Henry Fonda, and Claude Rains."--Roddy McDowall" -- Roddy McDowall

""[Claude Rains] was witty, amusing, and beautiful. And thoroughly enchanting to be with. And brilliant."--Bette Davis" -- Bette Davis

""Claude Rains was a consummate actor whose remarkable life and career has been covered in fascinating detail in this book"--Kevin Brownlow" -- Kevin Brownlow

"Most movie stars eventually are forgotten, and almost all character actors are, but the reputation of Claude Rains has survived for more than 40 years since his death. David Skal's biography, written with Rains' daughter, probably will provoke even more welcome -- and justified -- reassessments of his gifts." -- Scott Eyman, Cox News Service

"This highly readable biography, written with the help of his daughter, Jessica Rains, reveals the witty, talented man behind this universally respected Hollywood legend." -- Larry Cox, Tucson Citizen

"A comprehensive, breezily written guide to a consummate gentleman and an ever-diligent pro." -- The Post and Courier

Product Description

Late in Claude Rains's distinguished career, a reverent film journalist wrote that Rains "was as much a cinematic institution as the medium itself." Given his childhood speech impediments and his origins in a destitute London neighborhood, the ascent of Claude Rains (1889--1967) to the stage and screen is remarkable. Rains's difficulties in his formative years provided reserves of gravitas and sensitivity, from which he drew inspiration for acclaimed performances in The Invisible Man (1933), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Casablanca (1942), Notorious (1946), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), and other classic films. In Claude Rains: An Actor's Voice, noted Hollywood historian David J. Skal draws on more than thirty hours of newly released Rains interviews to create the first full-length biography of the actor who was nominated multiple times for an Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor. Skal's portrait of the gifted actor also benefits from the insights of Jessica Rains, who provides firsthand accounts of the enigmatic man behind her father's refined screen presence and genteel public persona. As Skal shows, numerous contradictions informed the life and career of Claude Rains. He possessed an air of nobility and became an emblem of sophistication, but he never shed the insecurities that traced back to his upbringing in an abusive and poverty-stricken family. Though deeply self-conscious about his short stature, Rains drew notorious ardor from female fans and was married six times. His public displays of dry wit and good humor masked inner demons that drove Rains to alcoholism and its devastating consequences. Skal's layered depiction of Claude Rains reveals a complex, almost inscrutable man whose nuanced characterizations were, in no small way, based on the more shadowy parts of his psyche. With unprecedented access to episodes from Rains's private life, Skal tells the full story of the consummate character actor of his generation. Claude Rains: An Actor's Voice, gives voice to the struggles and innermost concerns that influenced Rains's performances and helped him become a universally respected Hollywood legend.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky; 2nd edition (September 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813124328
• ISBN-13: 978-0813124322
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #276,549 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A crashing disappointment, October 21, 2008

By	Candace Scott (Lake Arrowhead, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This book is well and thoughtfully presented, but misses the mark to a spectacular degree.

What I miss desperately is that there is so little presented about Claude Rains as a human being. There's really no excuse for this since his daughter contributed. When I come away from a biography having little sense of what this man was really like, then there is a problem. It's hardly a case of paucity of information when Claude's daughter was available to Skal and ostensibly presented as "co-author."

There is virtually nothing about Claude as a man in the entire book. What kinds of music did he listen to? What did he do when he got home? What was he like as a husband? As a father? No mention of his affairs, a few common anecdotes about friends, taken from books published years ago. Why no new interviews with people who worked with him and knew him? There are dozens of those people out there. Clint Eastwood was talking about Claude on PBS just last week. What about Gloria Stuart, Kim Hunter, Audrey Totter, many others? Instead of taking interviews from these people from years back, interview them for this project!

OK, so we're told he drank Scotch and Guinness Stout and by 1942 he was drinking at noon and the suggestion he was drunk but was such a good actor he fooled his colleagues. How about some anecdotes about this? How about some additional information? He was supposed to have been the most professional actor in town yet he was furtively drinking and disguising his inebriation on the set? It's too cryptic. Flesh it out more.

There's a total paucity of any attempt to explain, rationalize or examine Claude's relationships with his six wives. What was really going on? Every wife except the last two cheated on him throughout all marriages. Why? Why was he so desirable externally and apparently so undesirable internally to wife after wife? Is there any analysis? None.

The biggest and most curious ommision is the complete lack of material on Claude's fourth wife, Frances. It's a near-fatal malady, especially when their child is available to fill in the blanks. We get absolutely no sense of who Frances was, her personality, her interests or what their marriage was like. They meet, they fall into bed, they live together for 7 years before they marry (even though he's married to someone else), they marry... and then... NOTHING. Frances briefly resurfaces to give birth to their daughter... then bye bye to Rain's fourth wife.

There is MUCH too much info on The Invisible Man (1933) and Caesar and Cleopatra (1945), all of it boring, repetitive and droning. There are also numerous errors that prove conclusively Skal didn't bother watching many of Claude's movies. His synopsis of several flicks is ludicrously inaccuate.

For a neopthye Claudie person, probably an excellent read. But for someone seeking the essential inner workings of Claudie, a crushing disappointment. If you're seeking information on Claude Rains as a man, forget it.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Overall a good book but needed more information, November 3, 2008

By	Reviewer from Queens - See all my reviews

I did enjoy this book, a biography of Claude Rains, featuring recollections of his daughter, interviews with actors with whom he worked, notable Bette Davis, and a description of his early years of poverty. Also, Mr. Rains own recollections were drawn upon for much of this book. The successful stage career is analyzed and the years in Hollywood where Rains appeared in such classic films as The Invisible Man, Now Voyager, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Casablanca, Juarez, Anthony Adverse, Deception, and Lawrence of Arabia. The author details his turbulent private life and six marriages, the longest lasting was his fourth marriage to Frances Propper. I agree with another reviewer that not much information is given re: his wives, particularly to Frances Propper--she disappears for a time in the narrative. It would have been helpful had their daughter Jessica discussed more about her mother and what happened to her after the divorce. Also, it would have been interesting to learn more about Jessica and what she is doing today.

Overall, a good biography but I was hoping for more.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars PEOPLE ARE BEING TO HARD ON THIS BOOK, November 8, 2008

By	W Miller "Classic Film Nerd" (Somewhere!!) - See all my reviews

This book, long awaited by myself, is a detailed account of the life and credits of William Claude Rains. I must compliment David J Skal for the amount of info he got on this deprived actor, who, not much is known about. The book itself is interesting and witty, as was Rains. The civer art was very good aswell.

The only thing I would have to complain about would not be about the book, but about amazon. The book is supposed to come with a disc full of rare-never before seen interviews and stock footage of Rains, however one never came and the blurb of the book says BIOGRAPHY/FILM. I will definitely have a talk to amazon about this, but even without the disc i found the shipment worth the wait and the money, and an enjoyable read.