I wonder why nobody gives a damn about this actor. He is one of the best character actors although he has never been on spotlight. Just look at him. He portrays Paine here superbly, in Casablanca or Notorious or Invisible Man he is just as great. I think he ought to be paid more respect than he is done today.
shareI think he is the best thing in Casablanca and Now,Voyager. He is absolutely superb in The Invisible Man, and The Phantom of the Opera would have been rubbish without him.
shareAgree!
And don't forget his role in Lawrence of Arabia.
Magnificent actor.
Oh, definitely. I don't know who out there dislikes Claude Rains as an actor, but they don't have very good taste.
shareHow could he had never get a Oscar? He's performance in Mr. Smith is great, the best of the movie, and was way better than Thomas Mitchell's in Stagecoach, which was also a very good perfomance. And he had other memorable performances in Casablanca and Notorious. Four nominations and nothing, while Roberto Benigni, Angelina Jolie, Renee Zellwegger, Richard Dreyfuss, just to point a few examples, have a Academy Award on their shelves...
shareRemember that this movie misse dout on a good number of Oscars because it was 1939. The year was just amazing in terms of the film quality. Comparing Claude Rains to more contemporary actors isn't totally fair because of this.
Jimmy Stewart, easily (IMHO) one of our best ever only recieved one Oscar (Philadelphia Story). Seriously, American Beauty, which won best picture a few years ago, would it have even been nominated in 39? With Gone With teh Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Mr. Smith, Stagecoach, and Of Mice and Men all on the list.
i agree one of the best character actors,but i dont agree that hollywood underrated him,,,like you said he did have 4 nominations...........
shareTake just Mr. Smith and Casablanca alone - three years apart and he seems like a completely different person. I smile every time I see him in a movie. He takes his place alongside my other favorite "minor" actors (you know, the kind that certainly never were "stars," per se, yet they light up the screen every time you see them somewhere: Ellen Burstyn, Roy Scheider, John Cazale, Rod Steiger, Anne Bancroft, Sterling Hayden, etc.
shareHe is tied for the best supporting character actor (IMHO) with another great Martin Balsam. A close second is William H. Macy
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Yep, Claude Rains was a great character actor and probably the greatest at playing the sympathetic villain.
"I'll show you the life of the mind!" - Madman Munson, Barton Fink
Claude Rains was an amazing actor. I loved The Invisible Man
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Claude was definetley one of the greats who will never be recognized with the other greats of that time. I would also add that he was great in the wolfman playing the father of lon chaney jr.(the wolfman). Another two Excellent roles to add are in here comes mr.jordan in which he plays a guardian angel guiding a man who recently passed away and on the flip side of the coin in the movie Angel on my shoulder playing a evil spirit guiding a recently deceased man for evil purposes. The man was definetley diversified and could play anything convinceably.
shareHe was also fantastic in Alfred Hitchock's Notorious.
shareIts a shame that he goes relatively unrecognised. He was excellent in three of the best films ever made: Casablanca, Notorious and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
shareAbsolutely! He's a fine actor and quite underrated. He has this ability to disappear in his roles. I mean, he is so different in each of his roles i.e. Mr. Smith, Casablanca, Notorious, and Now Voyager. Even when he is playing the corrupt bad guy, he still manages to make the character unique. I recently saw Now Voyager and I hardly recognized him. He played a rather sympathetic pyschiatrist and was very good in it.
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