RateItAll: The Opinion Network

Always a great screen presence, I think his voice and his clear enunciation of the words were one of his best qualities. One of his few starring roles was "The Invisible Man" in which you rarely saw him but he dominated the movie with his voice. Great special effects for the time!

Did you know that Bette Davis named Claude Rains as the best actor she ever worked with.

Ditto to what 'pwright1' states about a perennial favorite. The sheer elegance, exquisite presence, command and authority that Rains conveyed to motion pictures for decades, from 'The Adventures of Robin Hood', 'Casablanca', 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington' and 'Here Comes Mr. Jordan' to 'Mr. Skeffington', 'Notorious' and 'Lawrence of Arabia', etc., he was one of the most memorable and flawless character actors.

Looks like everybody said what I was going to say. One of the greats.

Claude Rains was a phenomenal actor and one of my all time favorites. No matter how big or small the part, he could dominant the screen. He was magnetic, electrifying, charismatic, suave, intelligent and commanded your attention, he rarely gave a bad performance. Rains established himself as a character actor, playing a variety of roles and was most adapt at playing distinquished villians. The Academy nominated Rains four times for Best Supporting Actor but never awarded this marvelous actor with the award. He was also the first actor to ask for one million dollars for a film and to receive it. Some of his films include an impressive performance as the phantom in The Phantom of the Opera, Louis Renault,the suave precipt police captain in Casablanca, Dr Jaquith in Now Voyager, the wise and enduring Mr Jordan in Here Comes Mr Jordan, the sinister Alexander Sebastin in Notorious,and as James Stewart's nemisis in Mr Smith Goes to Washington(one of his best performance next to Casablanca) These are just a few of Claude Rains roles. Claude Rains rarely disappoints, he is that good.

I admire Claude Rains and regard him as the greatest actor I have ever seen. Most of all, I like that he regarded every role as important; there really were no small parts where he was concerned. Whatever he was playing, he gave it his all. He also played each character differently. He really became the character. As opposed to other actors like, oh, Jack Nicholson, who always acts like Jack Nicholson, whatever the role. Claude never seems to be playing just a different version of himself. On top of that, the way he snuck up from the cockney alleys of London to become the first actor ever to be paid $1 million dollars for a part just screams American dream! I admire his tenacity and shrewdness, the way he used them and his talent to make a good life for himself, his wife, and his daughter. I think the fact that two of the world's most highly respected actors came out of Claude's drama class at RADA (John Gielgud and Lawrence Olivier) says quite a lot for this cockney who never even finished second grade.

Simply the best. He doesn't get the credit he deserves anymore but I guarantee you will enjoy any of his performances. The list goes on and on: Casablanca Mr Smith Goes to Washington Notorious Caesar and Cleopatra Deception Battle of the Worlds The Invisible Man Phantom of the Opera Mystery of Edwin Drood The Wolf Man and MORE!!!!!

One of the finest actors ever snagged by Hollywood, he is also one of the studio era's greatest underground sex symbols, the only leading man who could hold his own with Bette Davis and a much-married fellow very much in demand even unto his extremely well-preserved old age.