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

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Claude Rains: An Actor's Voice (Screen Classics)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Claude Rains: An Actor's Voice (Screen Classics). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Claude Rains: An Actor's Voice (Screen Classics) ReviewI 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.Claude Rains: An Actor's Voice (Screen Classics) OverviewLate 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.

Want to learn more information about Claude Rains: An Actor's Voice (Screen Classics)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now