A Filmmaker's Guide to: Claude Rains

In this chapter of ‘the filmmaker’s guide’ we’re actually going to be learning about literature and film together. I understand that many of you are sitting in university during difficult times and finding it increasingly hard to study and I understand that many of you who are not at university or not planning on it are possibly stuck of what to do, need a break or even need to catch up on learning film before you get to the next level. This guide will be brief but will also contain: new vocabulary, concepts and theories, films to watch and we will be exploring something taboo until now in the ‘filmmaker’s guide’ - academia (abyss opens). Each article will explore a different concept of film, philosophy, literature or bibliography/filmography etc. in order to give you something new to learn each time we see each other. You can use some of the words amongst family and friends to sound clever or you can get back to me (email in bio) and tell me how you’re doing. So, strap in and prepare for the filmmaker’s guide to film studies because it is going to be one wild ride.

Claude Rains

Who was he?

Born in the late 1800s, Claude Rains was a British-born actor of American film who went on to become of the great character actors of the early 20th century. He made his name in everything from horror to drama, in the universal cinema dark universe and alongside Bette Davis. He was a man of many talents, morphing into any role he picked up almost perfectly. I am a big Claude Rains fan and honestly, he is one of the most underrated actors in history to my beliefs.

What did he do?

His best roles are many and I wanted to share some of them with you. He basically changed the whole idea of character acting forever. Let us take a look at some of the roles he played that I think were career-defining:

The Invisible Man (1933)

Claude Rains obviously portrays the invisible man in his first American film and his debut on the feature film. It is a brilliant film and he creates an amazing character. When I first watched "The Invisible Man" I was very surprised at the way in which Claude Rains could portray a fictional character like this with such precision.

The Wolf Man (1941)

I think you see where this is going. I loved this film and I thought that Claude Rains was brilliant in this film. He portrayed his character with such fright and there was definitely a hell of a lot emotion there. It was like watching "American Werewolf in London" and you can tell that he was an inspiration upon the acting of that film and other wolf films after him. It's just freaking awesome and you need to see it.

Phantom of the Opera (1943)

There is much to be said about Claude Rains in "Phantom of the Opera" (1943) and his acting. It is obvious that his acting gets better and better over time and in my opinion, this is one of his most complex roles ever. He has managed in ten years, to build up an incredible career with this being one of the massive highlights of it. I would highly recommend watching this, especially if you have already seen the Lon Chaney version.

Conclusion

Other films such as "Now, Voyager" and "Mr. Skeffington" in which he stars opposite Bette Davis have been different and just as good for him. But another highlight of his great career is when he got cast in David Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia" - I think this really pushed his entire career out there and got more people interested in him and his acting. I hope you as well, have been convinced to watch more Claude Rains films.