Bette Davis was one of the top actors at Warner Bros. Studios during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She wasn’t just another glamour girl, lovely leading lady, or damsel in distress. She was a serious actress whose dedication to her craft and acting skills were equal to that of the studio’s top male performers. In fact, many of Warner Bros.’s biggest films in the 1930s and ‘40s featured Bette Davis, with the leading man or men playing supporting roles to the actress’s heroines.
One of Davis’s favorite leading men was more of a character actor than an A-list star. Claude Rains was a Warner Bros. regular during Davis’s heyday, and both of them were versatile actors who weren’t afraid to play any “type” from any era.
They made four movies together, “Juarez” (1939), “Now, Voyager” (1942), “Mr. Skeffington” (1944), and “Deception” (1946). “Juarez” was a costume drama set in the 1860s; Rains played French emperor Napoleon III and Davis played Empress Carlota of Mexico. They only share one scene, and it’s not a very friendly interaction.
Supporting Roles and Leading Man
In “Now, Voyager,” Davis plays Charlotte Vale, a frustrated spinster who lives under the thumb of her domineering mother (Gladys Cooper), a wealthy Boston matron. Seeing how lonely and depressed Charlotte is, her concerned sister-in-law (Ilka Chase) arranges for her to meet a renowned psychiatrist Dr. Jaquith (Rains). Charlotte suffers a nervous breakdown and begs Dr. Jaquith to take her to his sanitarium. There, Charlotte transforms herself from a frumpy old maid into the attractive young woman she’s always wanted to be. She takes a cruise, where she meets a charming but mysterious man, Jerry Durrance (Paul Henreid). They form a deep bond, but there is a problem. Jerry is married to a woman who doesn’t understand him, and who neglects their youngest daughter (Janis Wilson).“Mr. Skeffington” is the only film in which Claude Rains is Bette Davis’s primary leading man. He plays the titular character, a Jewish businessman in 1914 New York. One of his employees, a greedy young man named Trippy Trellis (Richard Waring), is found guilty of embezzling; Skeffington doesn’t prosecute him because of his beautiful sister Fanny. Skeffington’s head is turned by the younger woman’s beauty and charm, and they marry. Although Fanny married to help her brother, Trippy is appalled she is married to a Jew and heads to France to fight in World War I. When she learns of her beloved brother’s death, she feels trapped in her loveless marriage. Fanny is incapable of caring about anyone except herself until personal tragedy changes her.
Reversing the Roles
These three movies feature some common themes, yet the roles are reversed. They all tackle heavy subject matter, including adultery, loveless marriages, neglected children, and manipulation. However, they don’t seem similar, despite the shared stars, because these actors take on very different personalities to fit the unique scenarios.
In both films with Henreid, Davis plays a person who is controlled to the point of oppression by a manipulative, strong-willed older man. While Rains plays the wise, understanding doctor who helps her escape her mother’s tyranny in “Now, Voyager,” he is the oppressor in “Deception” as the narcissistic composer.
While Charlotte Vale is a frustrated, meek character who grows stronger throughout the film, Christine Radcliffe is a more confident character, who loses control of herself as she grows terrified that her new husband will find out her shameful secret. Interestingly, both characters end up killing their oppressors when driven to an intense frenzy, although it’s unintentional in “Now, Voyager.”
All three of Davis’s characters are subtly implied to have extramarital affairs. In “Now, Voyager,” she and Jerry have a one-night tryst when stranded in the Brazilian mountains, but Charlotte later realizes that all they can share is fondness and care for his troubled daughter.
Fanny has constant flirtations with a steady stream of suitors in “Mr. Skeffington,” since she is discontented with her husband. As her beauty fades later in the film, she realizes that her paramours were just drawn to her beauty and wealth; Job was the only man who really loved her.
A Powerful Dynamic
Davis would say in later interviews, “My favorite person to work with was Claude Rains.” You can see their exceptional chemistry and natural rapport in all three films. Whether she is regarding him as her true friend or realizing the depth of his evil capabilities, it’s impossible for Bette Davis to hide their magnetic connection onscreen.
A close friendship in real life can make acting hatred more convincing. While they aren’t actually a romantic pair in “Now, Voyager,” Davis said that she always imagined that Charlotte would end up with Dr. Jaquith, who is not bound by marriage to another woman, as Jerry is. She campaigned for Rains to have the title role in “Mr. Skeffington,” after a few other actors (including Henreid) had turned it down.
These three Warner Bros. films are excellent examples of old Hollywood melodrama at its finest. You won’t be disappointed.
