Claude Rains is arguably the greatest character actor of all time. He had a few leading roles in his career, but was more often the supporting player that held it all together. He began acting on stage at age 10, and studied and then taught the craft (his students included John Gielgud and Charles Laughton).
His calling card was his voice, which was like no other. Richard Chamberlain described it as honey mixed with gravel. Rains constructed it in an effort to get rid of both his speech impediment and his cockney accent. It is part British, part American, with a touch of Cockney and with the harshness that came from living through a gas attack in WW1.
His film career took off after an unsuccessful screen test (often jokingly called the worst ever) was overheard by director James Whale who was looking for a voice for The Invisible Man. Soon after, he signed a long term contract with Warner Bros. As mainly a character actor, he was less confined than leading men often were, and so, was in more great films than almost any other actor. I haven’t made another Top 8 actors list as strong as the one below.
An honorable mention to Passage to Marseille (1944), a war-time film that reunites much of the cast of Casablanca. I can’t say this is Rains’s 9th best film, but it is one I find myself rewatching often.
#8 — Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) – The best of the “Film Blancs” (Heavenly bureaucracy films), Rains is in a supporting role (as he will be in 7 of the 8 films of this list), as Mr. Jordan, the head angel directing souls onward in the afterlife. This is a funny and sweet fantasy film.
#7 – The Invisible Man (1933) — One of Rains’s very few leading roles, and also his big break. The film wouldn’t have worked without an actor with a distinct, almost mesmerizing voice. It is one of the early Universal Monster movies, and one of the best, bringing comedy into what had been a very serious franchise. [Also on the Great Directors List for James Whale]
#6 – The Sea Hawk (1940) — The last of the three great Michael Curtiz/Errol Flynn Swashbucklers and the second costarring Rains, The Sea Hawk, like The Adventures of Robin Hood before it, had a beautiful score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, strong cinematography, and a top notch cast. Rains makes for a sympathetic villain. Besides being a fine adventure film, is was a solid piece of propaganda for an England that needed it. (Full Critique) [Also on the Great Directors List for Michael Curtiz and the Great Actors list for Errol Flynn]
#5 — The Wolf Man (1941) – The jem of the 1940s Universal Monsters and the movie that created the rules of the modern werewolf, The Wolf Man is romantic, exciting, scary, and tragic. It works due to the relationship between the cursed man (Lon Chaney) and his caring but socially-bound father (Claude Rains). (Quick review) [Also on the Great Actors List for Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney Jr.]
#4 – Notorious (1946) — Hitchcock’s masterpiece with a darker Cary Grant then normal, still charming, but with an edge. It’s spies and cruelty and self-loathing and love and it is remarkably moving. Claude Rains plays perhaps his most complex villain, a man trapped by his own weakness. Few others could have pulled it off. [Also on the Great Directors List for Alfred Hitchcock and the Great Actors List for Cary Grant]
#3 – The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) — The greatest classic Swashbuckler and one of the best films ever made, it is beautifully shot, with a wonderful score, and it made Errol Flynn an icon. Rains, as Prince John, is part of an incredibly strong supporting cast (which includes Basil Rathbone, Patric Knowles, Eugene Pallette, Alan Hale, and Una O’Connor) (Full Critique) [Also on the Great Directors List for Michael Curtiz and the Great Actors lists for Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland list and Basil Rathbone]
#2 – Lawrence of Arabia (1962) — This warning against gods and messiahs set in the desert during WWI is perhaps the best shot film of all time. Its script is perfect and the acting is beyond compare. While the film belongs to Peter O’Toole, Rains plays an important part, the diplomat who understands the world as Lawrence cannot.
#1 – Casablanca (1942) – It is a true masterpiece in every way. It is startlingly good. Books have been written about why it is such a great film, so I’ll just leave it here at the top where it belongs. [Also on the Great Directors List for Michael Curtiz and the Great Actors List for Humphrey Bogart]