Claude Rains had an extraordinary facility for memorization, a gift that aided him exceedingly well in learning his roles and that enabled him to vividly recall a multitude of conversations and encounters from his early childhood onward. Unless otherwise noted below, all quotations and memories attributed to Rains in this book are taken from approximately thirty hours of undated audiotape interviews conducted by San Francisco journalist Jonathan Root in the mid-1960s for a biographical project on Rains cut short by the actor's final illness and Root's own premature death. The tapes were eventually purchased by the Rains estate, along with Root's fragmentary chapter drafts and many preliminary notes. The original analog tapes are now part of the Claude Rains Collection at the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University. (This book utilized Jessica Rains's professionally enhanced digital copies of the originals.) Although Rains's recollections may seem, as presented, so detailed as to suggest some degree of fictionalization, in fact the interviews have been only lightly edited for clarity and grammar. Rains had a near-photographic memory, which served him well as a prompter and stage manager in his early years.
Another major resource was a pair of scrapbooks, lovingly maintained by Audrey Homan, an adoring Rains fan in Britain, covering the actor's stage work in the 1920s and early film work of the 1930s. She made a gift of them to Rains on the occasion of his daughter's birth, fearing for their safety during the looming war. The scrapbooks, unfortunately, largely lack source information (the clippings are taken from dozens of London periodicals, many of them now untraceable), but they nonetheless provide rich and informative documentation. (Sources have been identified wherever possible.) Unsourced, undated, or partial clippings are cited simply in these notes as “Rains scrapbook” unless additional information is available.
All quotes and anecdotes attributed to Jessica Rains are taken from several taped interviews and voluminous personal conversations and e-mail correspondence between the summer of 2000 and the summer of 2005; Jessica provided extensive additional information throughout the book while the manuscript was taking shape. All specific tax information is taken from copies of Rains's tax returns at the Gotlieb Center. Reviews, scrapbook clippings, and ephemera are cited below; full citations for books and major articles are included in the Bibliography.
Introduction
1 HE WAS PERFECT: Roddy McDowall, videotaped interview by Jessica Rains and Aljean Harmetz, 1999.
2 PRIMARY AND MOST INSPIRING: John Gielgud, videotaped interview by Jessica Rains, 1996.
3 I WAS LOST FOR MANY YEARS: Unsourced, undated clipping, Rains scrap-book.
3 I CAN IMAGINE AN AMERICAN FILMGOER: Priestley, Particular Pleasures, p. 136.
4 MIXTURE OF DECORUM AND WILDNESS: Thomson, A Biographical Dictionary of Film, p. 611.
1. Bloody Idiots Who Couldn't Learn Their Lines
6 1945 OBITUARY: “Fred Rains,” New York Times, December 4, 1945.
15 THE SON OF A LONDON GRAIN MERCHANT: Useful general background information on Tree's life was found in Pearson, Beerbohm Tree, and Cran, Herbert Beerbohm Tree.
22 WINKLES: Clyde Fitch, typescript of The Last of the Dandies (1901); Billy Rose Theatre Collection, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
24 TREE MANAGED THE FIRST LINE OR TWO: Walter Havers, “Call-Boy to Star: The Career of a Great Actor,” London Magazine, undated clipping, Rains scrapbook.
2. Marriages and Mustard Gas
27 AT VARIOUS TIMES: Claude Rains, carbon copy of unpaginated affidavit, circa 1935, filed in connection with divorce proceedings. Jessica Rains collection.
28 A LARGE “SEVERANCE PAYMENT”: Personal communication from Nelson family.
31 FALSE PRIDE AND HIS APPALLING SENSITIVENESS: Walter Havers, “Call-Boy to Star: The Career of a Great Actor,” London Magazine, undated clipping, Rains scrapbook.
32 HIS BEARING WHEN HE ENTERS: Shaw, You Never Can Tell, in Plays Pleasant, p. 297.
33 BOUNCED A GOOD DEAL: Unsigned review of Iphigenia in Taurus, New York Times, May 16, 1915, unpaginated clipping, Jessica Rains collection.
34 A SOLDIER IS A MAN HUNTER: “History of the Regiment,” http.//www. londonscottishregt.org/history.cfm.
37 I ONCE ASKED HER HOW SHE GOT ON WITH CLAUDE: John Gielgud, videotaped interview with Jessica Rains, 1996.
37 AFTER THE DIVORCE: Isabel Jeans would later work extensively in film, including three pictures for Alfred Hitchcock: Downhill (1926), Easy Virtue (1927), and Suspicion (1941). She specialized in courtly, grand dame roles and is probably best remembered as Aunt Alicia in Gigi (1958). In Rains's estimation, “She became a very mannered actress.”
37 I WAS DEMOBILIZED: Rains affidavit.
40 A LITTLE TOO VIGOROUS: Rains scrapbook.
41 A GREAT FAILURE: Gielgud interview.
44 A HAUNTING THING: Times (London), Rains scrapbook.
45 NEXT WAS THE ROLE: Immediately after Daniel, Rains may have performed in Clemence Dane's A Bill of Divorcement at St. Martin's Theatre, though most sources credit the pivotal role of Hilary Fairfield, a shell-shocked solider divorced by his wife while confined in an asylum, to Malcolm Keen; and Keen did play the role in a silent film version the following year. But the role appears in several published checklists of Rains's stage credits. It is possible that he acted as an unbilled understudy or replacement; but it seems more likely that these sources are confusing the 1921 stage production with Rains's later performance of the role on American radio.
45 THE PRINCIPAL METHOD OF TUITION: Hardwicke, Let's Pretend, p. 34.
46 FORMIDABLE INSTRUCTOR: The volatile Elsie Chester is memorably described by Jonathan Croall in Gielgud: A Theatrical Life, p. 41; and in Sheridan Morley's John G: The Authorized Biography of John Gielgud, in which she is called bluntly “a disabled old bat” (p. 31).
46 I’D HAD ONE PROFESSIONAL JOB: Gielgud interview.
47 I WORKED AS HARD AS I COULD: Gielgud, Early Stages, p. 62.
48 HE HAD BEEN HELPING HIS MOTHER: Gielgud interview.
49 A SUCCESSION OF PARABLES: Rains scrapbook.
49 I PLAYED A SMALL PART: Gielgud interview.
50 A “FIRST RATE” ACTOR: Rains scrapbook.
50 MR. CLAUDE RAINS AS DICK DUDGEON: Rains scrapbook.
51 MUST YOU BE SO VERY C-H-A-R-M-I-N-G: Quoted in Soister, Claude Rains, p. 211.
51 IT IS TO MR. RAINS’S CREDIT: Rains scrapbook.
52 THE NOTICES WERE ALMOST THE BEST: MacDermott, Everymania, pp. 70–71.
53 WAS OMITTED FROM THE PROGRAMME: Rains scrapbook.
54 VILE LITTLE RESTAURANT IN HONG KONG: Ibid.
54 SCOWLED AND DEEPENED; MUCH CLEVERNESS IN THE FIRST TWO ACTS: Ibid.
54 THERE IS SOME BRILLIANT ACTING: Ibid.
56 VERY ATTACHED TO HER “LODGER”: Lanchester, Elsa Lanchester Herself, p. 85.
56 I’VE BEEN ALL DAY ON THE ROAD: Kaiser, From Morn to Midnight, pp. 506–507.
57 WE OBSTINATELY DECLINE: Rains scrapbook.
57 HIS TOUCH IS LIGHT AND SURE: Rains scrapbook.
57 THERE MUST BE SOMETHING RADICALLY WRONG: Rains scrapbook.
3. An Actor Abroad
59 WHY DO YOU WANT TO GO TO AMERICA? John Gielgud, videotaped interview by Jessica Rains, 1996.
60 A FLORID, SHOWY IMPERSONATION: J. Brooks Atkinson, New York Times, February 9, 1927.
60 BEATRIX “SUPERB” AND RAINS “EQUALLY SPLENDID”: Undated Philadelphia Ledger clipping, Rains scrapbook.
61 MY WIFE HAD BEEN INACTIVE: Claude Rains, carbon copy of unpaginated, undated affidavit, circa 1935, filed in connection with divorce proceedings, Jessica Rains collection.
62 HE WAS VERY QUIET: Vincent Sherman, videotaped interview by Jessica Rains, June 1999.
63 BEATRIX REMAINED IN NEW YORK: Rains affidavit.
63 AND IS SHE VERY PROPER? Rains scrapbook.
63 IN NOVEMBER: Rains affidavit.
64 EARLY IN DECEMBER: Ibid.
64 CLAUDE RAINS MAKES A CAPITAL FIGURE: J. Brooks Atkinson, New York Times, April 16, 1929.
64 I WENT BACK TO ENGLAND: Rains affadavit.
66 EVERY YEAR OUR FOREMOST DRAMA ORGANIZATION OPENS: Brooks Atkinson, New York Times, October 18, 1932.
67 CLAUDE RAINS, WHO IS ONE OF THE BEST ACTORS: Brooks Atkinson, New York Times, September 9, 1932.
67 AN ABANDONED COMBINATION: Rains scrapbook.
68 ACCENTUATED HIS DEFORMITIES: Catholic World, October 1932.
4. Invisibility and After
71 FILM RIGHTS TO THE INVISIBLE MAN: Undated, unpaginated entry for The Invisible Man, Universal Pictures, Catalog of Literary Properties (Universal Pictures Catalog of Literary Properties, Library of Congress, Washington, DC).
71 $6,000 WAS PAID: Ibid.
72 OH THOU WHO ART INVISIBLE: Gattis, James Whale: A Biography, p. 175.
73 OUR MEAL OF HORROR IS NOT COMPLETE: Ibid, p. 177.
74 DIDN’T EVEN POSSESS A REFERENCE COPY: Curtis, James Whale, pp. 199–200, for Weld.
74 INVISIBLE LUNATIC: Haining, ed., H. G. Wells Scrapbook, p. 124.
75 TERMS OF THE CONTRACT: Rains's personal copy of the Invisible Man contract has not survived, but for point of comparison, Karloff had found a salary of $750 a week unacceptable.
76 WE USED A COMPLETELY BLACK SET: John P. Fulton, “How We Made The Invisible Man,” American Cinematographer, September 1931.
76 WE PHOTOGRAPHED THOUSANDS OF FEET OF FILM: Ibid.
77 FIRST, THERE WAS THE SHOT OF THE WALL AND THE MIRROR: Ibid. A visual reconstruction of the complicated matte process is included in my documentary Now You See Him: The Invisible Man Revealed, included on Universal Home Video's DVD edition of The Invisible Man, hosted and narrated by film historian Rudy Behlmer.
77 ON AT LEAST ONE OCCASION: Ibid.
78 THE OPTICAL WORK PROVED FAR MORE EXPENSIVE: Invisible Man production file memorandum, Universal collection, University of Southern California Film and Television Archive, Los Angeles, California.
78 A BIT “POTSCHKE”: Gloria Stuart, videotaped interview by the author, August 1997.
78 UNANTICIPATED TREATMENT: Although Gloria Stuart has recounted this now-legendary anecdote, with some slight variations, to numerous interviewers, a close viewing of the film raises questions about the story. Stuart and Rains have only one scene together (in the film's final moments she plays to Rains's voice, which emanates from an empty bed), and they appear together in only a handful of static camera setups, none of which offers Rains the opportunity to back anyone into the camera. The shot in which he greets her shows the performers meeting face-on behind a low piece of furniture; Rains, appearing taller than Stuart, is obviously standing on a fixed-position platform or box; there would be no way he could perform an upstaging maneuver. Two subsequent shots, showing Jack Griffin leading Stuart to a window seat and later to the door, appear to employ a double for Rains, because Stuart, wearing high heels (not acting in stocking feet as claimed), is almost exactly the same height as the Invisible Man. The rest of the sequence consists of the actors seated, Rains standing once, with several static close-ups intercut. Stuart's account may describe some preliminary rehearsal, but almost certainly not the scene as it was actually filmed.
78 AN “ACTOR’S ACTOR”: Milano, Monsters, pp. 118–119.
79 WELL, WELL, YOUR FIRST TRIP TO CALIFORNIA: Vincent Sherman, videotaped interview by Jessica Rains, June 1999.
79 WITH RED WIRE WHEELS: Ibid.
80 EVERYBODY WORRIED: Gordon, My Side, p. 298.
81 WHEN THE SCRIPT WAS FINISHED: Rains scrapbook.
81 A MOST FORCEFUL CONVERSATIONALIST: Ibid.
81 AND THAT’S MY IDEA: Ibid.
81 BELIEVE IT OR NOT: Ibid.
81 CHARLIE AND BEN LOOKED AT ONE ANOTHER: Ibid.
82 MARGO’S CASTING: Margo eventually was given a five-year contract with RKO and later married the actor Eddie Albert.
82 TRICKY DOUBLE-EXPOSURE SEQUENCE: Rains quoted in Film Weekly, Rains scrapbook.
84 EXTRAORDINARILY CLEAR CHARACTERIZATION: Mordaunt Hall, review of Crime without Passion, New York Times, January 9, 1935.
84 I WAS PRETTY SURE: Review of Crime without Passion, Family Circle, Rains scrapbook.
84 NOT A PICTURE FOR THE PEOPLE: Louella O. Parsons, review of Crime without Passion, Los Angeles Examiner, January 9, 1935.
85 LOWELL SHERMAN WAS MENTIONED…STUDIO GOT A BARGAIN: Universal Pictures interoffice memoranda (1935) on The Man Who Reclaimed His Head, University of Southern California Film and Television Library, Los Angeles. Despite receiving top billing, Rains still wasn't quite able to command top pay. For The Man Who Reclaimed His Head, Joan Bennett, in the part of Verin's wife, Adele, received a flat fee of $12,500; Lionel Atwill, another celebrated émigré from the New York theatre, received $2,000 a week.
85 HAS THE OVERWROUGHT AND UNDERDONE LOOK: Andre Sennwald, review of The Man Who Reclaimed His Head, New York Times, January 9, 1935.
85 TWO OF THE CHOICEST MAD SCIENTIST ROLES: The parts eventually went to Peter Lorre, making his American screen debut in Mad Love; and Ernest Thesiger, who made the part of Dr. Pretorious his own in Bride of Frankenstein.
86 RAINS IMPARTS A WEALTH OF WEIRDNESS: Review of Mystery of Edwin Drood, Variety, March 27, 1935.
88 IT HAD MORE SUBSTANCE: Fay Wray, audiotaped interview by Terry Pace, 2004; transcript courtesy of Mr. Pace.
89 SEEMED TO ME ALL THE WHILE TO REFLECT: Wray, “Claude Rains as I Know Him,” Film Weekly, August 9, 1935, Rains scrapbook.
89 CLAUDE RAINS DOMINATES: Review of The Clairvoyant, Film Weekly, Rains scrapbook.
5. Mr. Rains Goes to Burbank
91 HERE IS A REAL-LIFE DRAMA: “‘Am I Married?’ Asks Actress,” Daily Sketch, undated clipping, Rains scrapbook.
92 THE SCRIPT I WAS PRESENTED WITH: Rains, letter to Freedman, 1935, Lucy Chase Williams collection.
93 MR. RAINS’ LOW HUSKY VOICE: Graham Greene, review of The Last Outpost, The Spectator, October 1935.
93 IMPRESSIVE LONG-TERM CONTRACT: Claude Rains contract file, 1936–1946, Warner Bros. collection, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
94 THE ARTIST AGREES TO CONDUCT HIMSELF: Ibid.
95 IN ADDITION TO BEING A TENDER ROMANCE: Louella Parsons, review of Hearts Divided, Los Angeles Examiner, June 12, 1936.
96 IN THE HANDS OF AN ACTOR: W. H. Mooring, review of Anthony Adverse, Film Weekly, undated clipping, Rains scrapbook.
96 IF THE PICTURE IS AT ALL DISTINGUISHED: Review of Stolen Holiday, New York Times, February 1, 1937.
97 FOR ITS PERFECTION, CHIEF CREDIT MUST GO TO MR. LEROY: Frank Nugent, review of They Won't Forget, New York Times, July 15, 1937.
98 ANXIOUS TO START A FAMILY: Vincent Sherman, videotaped interview by Jessica Rains, June 1999.
98 A STORY OF UGLINESS: Frank Nugent, review of Gold Is Where You Find It, New York Times, February 14, 1938.
99 A DAUGHTER THEY NAMED JENNIFER: Later known as Jessica, she would be Rains's only child.
100 DEAR JACK: Behlmer, ed., Inside Warner Bros., p. 82.
100 UNDER OUR CONTRACT WITH CLAUDE RAINS: Rains contract file.
101 HIS PERFORMANCE WAS SO REAL: Davis quoted in Etheridge, “Bette Davis and Claude Rains.”
101 EVERY NOW AND THEN: Ibid.
101 IT HAS COME TO MY ATTENTION: Rains contract file.
103 I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT MR. ENFIELD: Rains contract file.
103 WE LEAFED AND LEAFED: Capra, The Name above the Title, pp. 261–262.
104 HAWKS’S AND RAINS’S ATTITUDE: Rains contract file. Trilling noted also that Warners wanted Rains for the part of Sir Francis Bacon in their upcoming production The Knight and the Lady, but that he believed that Rains would do the Capra film instead. The Warners movie, eventually retitled The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex and starring Bette Davis and Errol Flynn, featured Donald Crisp as Bacon.
104 LISTEN, JEFF: Sidney Buchman, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (screenplay), in Gassner and Nichols, eds., Twenty Best Film Plays, p. 627. The final cut of the film trimmed the speech somewhat.
105 BUCHMAN HATED THE SUICIDE ATTEMPT: McBride, Frank Capra, p. 416.
106 GROTESQUE DISTORTION: Quoted in Capra, The Name above the Title, p.
287. 106 JOSEPH P. KENNEDY WIRED: Ibid., p. 289.
106 THOSE WEREN’T BUTTERFLIES IN HER STOMACH: Capra quoted in Oller, Jean Arthur, p. 3.
107 RAINS BEGAN RENEGOTIATING: Rains contract file.
109 I TARGETED THE SCREENPLAY: Curt Siodmak, introduction to Riley, ed., MagicImage Film Books Presents The Wolf Man.
109 HOW ANYBODY COULD POSSIBLY CLEAN UP “KINGS ROW”: Ted Le Berthon, undated clipping, Los Angeles Daily News opinion piece on Kings Row, Motion Picture Producers and Directors Association censor's file on Kings Row, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Beverly Hills, California.
110 DEFINITELY UNACCEPTABLE: Ibid.
110 DECLINED INSTANTLY: Wallis and Higham, Starmaker, p. 101.
110 BETTE DAVIS WANTED THE PART: Ibid.: “Bette Davis wanted to play it, but we all felt the picture would be thrown off balance because of her fame and talent.”
6. Now, Contract Player
114 TURNED DOWN THE PART: Wallis and Higham, Starmaker, pp. 105–106.
114 FREUDIAN CLICHéS: They weren't quite clichés at the time, and novelist Prouty herself had benefited from psychiatric treatment following a breakdown. Now, Voyager, as both novel and film, did much to demystify psychiatry for a lay audience; in particular, the character of Dr. Jaquith, played so sympathetically by Rains, portrayed psychiatry as especially user-friendly to women. Prouty is today perhaps best known as the academic and psychiatric benefactor of Sylvia Plath.
115 POLISHED AND EVEN-TEMPERED: Review of Now, Voyager, New York Times, October 23, 1942.
116 YOU CANNOT SELL ME: Ingrid Bergman, interview in Anobile, ed., Film Classics Library: Casablanca, p. 5.
116 KOCH RECALLED: Koch, Casablanca: Script and Legend, p. 22.
116 I DIDN’T KNOW FROM ONE DAY TO THE OTHER: Bergman, interview in Anobile, Film Classics Library, p. 6.
117 BREEN OFFICE INSISTED: Behlmer, ed. Inside Warner Bros., pp. 212–213.
117 BOGART DRANK: For detailed observations of Bogart's chronic alcohol dependence, see Sperber and Lax, Bogart.
118 ACTOR LEONID KINSKEY: Mank, The Hollywood Hissables, p. 324.
118 PETER LORRE…RECALLED RAINS’S PERFECTIONISM: Mank, ibid.
118 MR. RAINS IS PROPERLY SLIPPERY: Review of Casablanca, New York Times, January 10, 1943.
119 THEY WANTED A TREMENDOUS LONG VIEW: Bergman, interview in Anobile, Film Classics Library, p. 7.
119 CLAUDE RAINS INADVERTENTLY SAVED THE ENDING: Aljean Harmetz, videotaped interview by Jessica Rains, 1996.
119 RAINS IS IN PENNSYLVANIA: Behlmer, ed., Inside Warner Bros., p. 217.
119 WE NEEDED A GOOD PUNCH LINE: Wallis and Higham, Starmaker, p. 91.
120 CLAUDE RAINS…DOES NOT IMPRESS: Variety, review of Forever and a Day, January 20, 1943.
121 ARTHUR LUBIN REMEMBERED: MacQueen, “’43 Phantom Found New Formula for Classic Tale.”
121 TOLD FILM HISTORIAN SCOTT MACQUEEN: Ibid.
123 HER HUSBAND HAD BEEN ATTACKED: Higham outlines the theory in his Davis biography Bette.
123 BECAUSE BETTE DAVIS IS A SLOW DIRECTOR: Freedland, The Warner Brothers, p. 163.
124 HE FORGOT HIS CHARACTER: Davis quoted in Etheridge, “Bette Davis and Claude Rains.”
125 RAINS HAD GREAT CONCENTRATION: Vincent Sherman, videotaped interview by Jessica Rains, June 1999.
125 DEMONSTRATES THE HORRORS OF EGOCENTRICITY: James Agee, review of Mr. Skeffington, Nation, June 3, 1944, p. 661.
126 IS ALTOGETHER DELIGHTFUL: Bosley Crowther, New York Times, November 1, 1945.
132 THIS PRESS FOOLISHNESS: Dukore, ed., Bernard Shaw and Gabriel Pascal, p. 167.
132 UNTIL HE DESCENDED ON ME: George Bernard Shaw, foreword to Deans, Meeting at the Sphinx, p. vii.
133 HE SHOCKS ME BY HIS UTTER INDIFFERENCE: Ibid.
133 I PITY POOR RANK: Shaw quoted in Dukore, ed., Bernard Shaw and Gabriel Pascal, p. 169.
134 OLD AND STRINGY: Walker, Vivien, p. 168.
134 SHOULD NOT HAVE A DIRECTOR: Robson quoted in Dukore, ed., Collected Screenplays, p. 134.
134 THE FIRST AUTHORITY I LOOKED UP: Rains scrapbook.
135 HAD NO COUNTERPART IN EGYPT: Pascal, The Disciple and His Devil, p. 109.
135 THE SUN WAS SHINING: Ibid.
135 PROFESSIONALLY HE IS NOT AN EASY MAN: Deans, Meeting at the Sphinx, pp. 72–73.
136 HADN’T MADE A FILM IN EIGHT YEARS: Ainley's last film role was as the exiled duke in As You Like It (1936), starring Laurence Olivier.
7. MacGuffins, Deceptions, Domestic Recriminations
141 IT IS DIFFICULT NOT TO FIND: D. Mosdell, undated review of Notorious in The Canadian Forum, cited in Deschner, The Films of Cary Grant, p. 186.
142 WHAT SEEMED TO BE A JINX: Lawrence, Actor: The Life and Times of Paul Muni, pp. 289–290.
142 THAT’S QUITE A PART YOU’VE GOT THERE, CLAUDIE: Davis quoted in Ether-idge, “Bette Davis and Claude Rains.”
142 THE CENSORS RUINED IT: Ibid.
143 SHOULD HAVE CONCLUDED AS A COMEDY: Rapper quoted in Higham and Greenberg, The Celluloid Muse, p. 203.
143 IT IS THE CHARACTER OF HOLLENIUS: Review of Deception, Newsweek, October 28, 1946, p. 93.
143 A FRIEND OF STOKOWSKI: Rains scrapbook.
143 CLAUDE RAINS RIGHTFULLY STOLE THE PICTURE: Davis quoted in Ether-idge, “Bette Davis and Claude Rains.”
144 IN VIEW OF THE FACT: Letter from Mike Levee to Jack Warner, 1946 contract file, Warner Bros. Collection, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
144 THE FILM WAS A FINANCIAL…SUCCESS: According to Soister (Claude Rains, p. 162), The Unsuspected earned $875,000 above its costs.
146 DAVID LEAN LIKED CLAUDE: Ronald Neame, videotaped interview by Jessica Rains, 1999.
146 I SAID I WAS GOING TO STOP THE PICTURE: Quoted in Brownlow, David Lean, p. 253.
147 CLAUDE ALWAYS AMUSED ME: Ibid.
147 I KNEW HE WAS A HEAVY DRINKER: Neame interview.
149 CLAUDE RAINS…IS SOMETHING OF A BORE: Bosley Crowther, review of The White Tower, New York Times, July 3, 1950.
150 MURMURING MY WAY THROUGH THE MOVIES: “Gratified Old Revolutionary,” New Yorker, February 15, 1951, p. 25.
151 I SEARCHED MY SOUL: Robinson, All My Yesterdays, p. 257.
151 LIES: Kingsley, Sidney Kingsley: Five Prizewinning Plays, ed. Nina Couch, p. 335.
151 WARM FRIENDS: Ibid., p 335.
151 CLAUDE HAD A DOUBLE PROBLEM: Ibid.
152 NO “JACK” OR “CLAUDE”: Seff, Supporting Player, p. 56.
152 HE’D ALWAYS PUT SIDNEY OFF: Hunter quoted in Soister, Claude Rains, p. 249.
153 FUCK SIDNEY KINGSLEY: Ibid.
153 I FIND IT QUITE A JOB: “Gratified Old Revolutionary.”
153 CLAUDE USED TO GATHER US: Richard Seff, correspondence to the author, February 16, 2008.
153 UNFORTUNATELY, DICKIE: Seff, Supporting Player, p. 61.
154 SORT OF DRIBBLED TO AN END: Seff correspondence.
154 THIS WAS AN ERA: Seff, Supporting Player, p. 61.
154 MARY MARTIN: Ibid., p. 60.
155 IT SEEMED TO ME: Robinson, All My Yesterdays, p. 267.
156 UNHAPPILY SQUANDERED: Time, December 17, 1956.
157 WHENEVER I CAME TO NEW YORK: Neame interview.
158 THEY FOUND HIM NEAR THE CAR: Untitled, undated clipping fragment, West Chester Citizen, Rains scrapbook. This was not Rains's first traffic mishap. He recalled that he originally learned to drive after only four lessons, and then promptly bumped into a policeman.
159 BRADBURY HIMSELF WAS IN AWE: Ray Bradbury, conversation with author, August 2006.
160 WHEN THE PLAY CLOSED: New York World Telegram and Sun, undated clippings, Rains scrapbook.
8. New Stages and Final Curtains
162 STUDIO PUBLICIST BOB RAINS: Bob Rains, Beneath the Hollywood Tinsel, pp. 115–17.
168 SARCASTIC AND DISMISSIVE REVIEWS: Reviews of The Lost World: Time, July 18, 1960; New York Times, July 14, 1960.
169 IT WAS LIKE HAVING MR. SKEFFINGTON: Ariane Ulmer, in conversation with the author, August 2007.
170 THEY SET TO WORK WITH MUTUAL SUSPICION: Chapin, Musical Chairs, p. 145.
170 PLAYING A DIPLOMAT: Stanley Kauffmann, review of Lawrence of Arabia, The New Republic, January 12, 1963, p. 28.
171 LEAN “WAS ON ANOTHER PLANET POLITICALLY”: Kevin Brownlow, correspondence to the author, May 2008.
174 DEAR MR. RAINS: Undated 1964 fan mail, Claude Rains Collection, Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University.
175 THE TWO MEN WERE WAITING TO SEE: Jonathan Root, undated notes (circa 1965) for proposed biography, The Love Habit, Jessica Rains collection.
176 HE WAS FLYING DOWN: Ibid.
179 CLAUDE, DEAR: Bette Davis, handwritten note to Claude Rains, circa August 1965, Claude Rains Collection, Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University.
179 THE COMPANY REVERED RAINS: Joanna Miles, telephone interview with the author, February 2008.
179 IT IS TORPID THEATRE: Review of So Much of Earth, So Much of Heaven, Variety, September 8, 1963.
180 I REGRET TO TELL YOU: Letter from Nochem S. Winnet to Jonathan Root, September 10, 1965, Jessica Rains collection.
181 ALL THINGS ONCE ARE THINGS FOREVER: Richard Monckton Milnes, Lord Houghton, excerpt from “Ghazeles” in Nicholson and Lee, eds., The Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse, pp. 156–157:
All things once are things forever;
Soul, once living, lives forever;
Blame not what is only once,
When that once endures forever;
Love, once felt, though soon forgot,
Moulds the heart to good for ever;
Once betrayed from childly faith,
Man is conscious man forever;
Once the void of life revealed,
It must deepen on forever,
Unless God fill up the heart
With himself for once and ever;
Once made God and man at once,
God and man are one forever.
183 HE WAS AN IMMACULATE ACTOR: Vincent Sherman, videotaped interview by Jessica Rains, June 1999.
183 I FEEL LIKE CLAUDE: De Marinis, A Lovely Monster, p. 163.