Claude Rains on TCM: CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA, JUAREZ

Claude Rains, Gale Sondergaard in Anthony Adverse

Turner Classic Movies will be showing eight movies featuring Claude Rains, TCM’s Star of the Month of September, beginning at 5PM Pacific Time.
Of those, I’ve seen only three:
Juarez (1939) could have been a good historical biopic, but things go wrong from the start thanks to the miscasting of Paul Muni as Benito Juárez. Even Bette Davis, who plays the mad Empress Carlotta von Hapsburg, would have been more believable as Mexico’s first full-blooded American Indian to be elected president. William Dieterle was also the wrong man to direct Juarez, as Dieterle’s hand tended to be quite heavy when dealing with real-life subjects, e.g., The Life of Emile Zola, The Story of [...]