Notorious Claude Rains as Alexander Sebastian - A Nazi Villain Like No Other?
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Notorious Claude Rains gives an all star performance as the memorable and suave villain as Alexander Sebastian in the Alfred Hitchcock Notorious classic movie (1946).
He is somehow able to elicit sympathy from his audience, while plotting with the bad guys to build an atomic bomb and slowly poisoning his wife to death.
Who is this complex and mysterious character Alexander Sebastian and what really made him tick? Did Claude Rains influence his critical character?
This post is all about Notorious Claude Rains who plays Alexander Sebastian in the Notorious 1946 Movie.
Notorious Claude Rains - Any Real Life Parallels to Notorious Sebastian?
Was the British-American actor Claude Rains similar to the character Alexander Sebastian in real life? Let’s look at the similarities and differences existed between the actor and his onscreen character.
Unlike his Notorious character Sebastian, who a wealthy socialite living in a mansion filled with servants and expensive wine and art collections, the real Claude Rains grew up in the slums of London, or in his own words on "the wrong side of the river Thames."
Also, unlike Sebastian, who was the only petted child of the Madame Anna Sebastian, Claude Rains was one of twelve children! His mother took in boarders to help put bread on the table. I’d hazard it’s a safe bet that his childhood home didn’t have a wine cellar!
In Notorious, Alexander Sebastian spoke like a gentleman, with a cultured throaty voice, a prolific vocabulary and pinging sarcasm. Claude Rains actually grew up with "a very serious Cockney accent and a speech impediment.” Daily Elocution books and lessons transformed Claude Rains into a different person and fine actor who proceeded to star in his most memorable roles on the silver screen as a suave villain
Did Claude Rains have a political allegiance during the war? Yes, Claude Rains served for the British in World War I. So, in real life, he was on the side of the good guys, the Allies.
Was he as delicious eye candy offscreen as onscreen? Was he attractive to women who weren’t spying on him? Bette Davis famously said, "Claude was witty, amusing and beautiful, really beautiful, thoroughly enchanting to be with…."
Unlike the Notorious Sebastian, who was a bachelor until mid-life, as his domineering mother kept all women at bay, Claude Rains was married six times! One wife, he married to for less than a year. I wonder... did she start spying on him right after their honeymoon?
Notorious 1946 Plot Summary
The Notorious 1946 movie is a classic spy and love thriller where a beautiful woman is enlisted by the American government to spy on a group of Nazis in South America.
This woman, Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman) must infiltrate a Nazi circle lead by a man who formerly loved her, Alexander Sebastian (Claude Rains), although she has fallen in love with her US government agent handler T.R. Devlin (Cary Grant).
For the detailed Notorious 1946 plot summary, read our other post:
Notorious Claude Rains - What Is Life like as a shorter man in a 1940s movie with a taller woman?
The talented Claude Rains stood at 5’6”, although there is a lack of consensus on his exact height, (some accounts say 5’6½ or 5’7”).
He often wore shoe lifts in real life to make up for his lack of height, apparently it wasn’t ok in the 1940s to have the woman taller than the man.
Since Ingrid Bergman loomed inches taller than her costar at 5’9”, (and also often wore heels) Hitchcock had Claude Rains stand on a box for several of his scenes with her!
For the famous key scene where Sebastian kisses Alicia while she tries to hide the key she had just stolen from him, the ingenious Alfred Hitchcock had a hidden ramp that Claude Rains walked up as he came into the room from a distance.
The result? As Sebastian approaches Alicia to kiss her, he appears taller… just like magic. Good thing Sebastian was so distracted trying to kiss her, that he didn’t realize she’d stolen his wine cellar key!
Hitchcock’s strategic use of boxes and ramps in Notorious make it appear that both Claude Rains and Cary Grant were taller than Ingrid Bergman.
However, in real life, Cary Grant (at 6’2”) loomed almost seven inches taller than Rains.
Notorious Sebastian - From Enraptured Lover to Poisoner! Why Do We Still Feel Sympathy For Him?
Having loved Alicia in the past, Sebastian fell quickly and easily head over heels for her again, fully trusting her and not doubting her affections or motive.
This made him very vulnerable and in stark contrast to the suspicious and cautious Devlin who is hesitant to bestow his affections on a woman who was once a “tramp.”
Blindly in love, Sebastian is a shade possessive and jealous of any other men around Alicia, especially Devlin.
Alicia: “I've told you before, Mr. Devlin doesn't mean a thing to me.”
Alexander Sebastian: “I'd like to be convinced. Would you maybe care to convince me, Alicia, that Mr. Devlin means nothing to you?”
Notorious Sebastian is also charming and witty and delivers his one-liners with suave eloquence. He charmingly tells Alicia “An old friend is never an extra guest.” when he’s inviting her over for dinner at his home and trying to put her at ease.
Sebastian seems truly care for Alicia and shows his affection openly, unlike Devlin who tries to fight and conceal his feelings. Well, he truly care until he finds out she’s a spy, that it. Then he changes real quick.
As sharp as he is gallant, Sebastian quickly pieces together evidence and discovers Alicia’s true motive for being with him. Realizing he’s been seduced and spied on, he confides to his mother in a smoldering rage “Alicia…I’ll take care of her myself. I stood looking at her while she was asleep, and I could have….”
His Mother Dearest “wisely” channels his fury to plot a slow and painful death for Alicia. Not only does the calculating Alexander Sebastian agree with the plot, but he goes all and continues playing the doting husband role to perfection.
He fakes concern and sympathy while watching the one and only love of his life slowly and painfully withering to death. His calculating coldness and duplicity is very creepy and chilling!
Did it ever cross Sebastian’s mind that perhaps the cause of the Third Reich wasn’t worth destroying the love of his life over... or bigger question, perhaps his loyalties were misplaced?
Maybe he should have colluded with the American government and given his marriage a real shot?
That would have been a twist… then which man would Alicia have ended up with?
Fun fact! Hitchcock originally wanted Clifton Webb to play the villain Alexander Sebastian in the Notorious 1946 movie!
It’s hard to imagine him in a role other than Waldo Lydecker in Laura.
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Laura Movie 1944 - A film noir that actually had a happy ending
Notorious Sebastian - What’s up with the Creepy Madame Sebastian in the Notorious 1946 movie?
Sebastian is dominated by his tyrannical mother, Madame Sebastian, whom he struggles for independence from.
She has kept Sebastian under her thumb for years. She has never approved of any of the women he’s been interested in, which comes out when he announces he is marrying Alicia, with or without his mother’s approval.
Sebastian states: “You’ve always been jealous of any woman I’ve shown any interest in.”
Ironically the one time Sebastian breaks away from his mother’s dominance is his decision to marry Alicia, who he’s madly in love with.
Maybe he’s been overshadowed by his mother so long, he can’t even make decisions on his own? Is his nefarious and dangerous alliance with the Nazis also due to her influence?
A few weeks after his honeymoon, Alexander Sebastian scurries back to his mother, confessing “I am married to an American agent.” Unable, or unwilling, to make decisions on his own, Sebastian enlists his mother’s advice on how to get rid of Alicia, before the Nazis discover.
The first time the spidery Nazi matron is genuinely happy is upon discovering her son is having issues with his new wife.
Her face lights up with evil glee, as she now sees the chance to reinstate herself as the only woman in his life, whose picture she proudly displays next to her bed.
Fun fact! The actor who played the mother, Leopoldine Konstantin, was only four years older than Claude Rains in real life, although she looks decades older. Maybe she should have indulged more in pinot noir and dabbled less with poison and coffee!
This post was all about Notorious Claude Rains
The Notorious 1946 character Sebastian was a polished and chilling villain, one of Hitchcock’s most memorable.
We believe the talented Claude Rains was an excellent choice for the role, who played the character to perfection.
What are your thoughts on Alexander Sebastian; do you feel sympathy or anger towards him, and was he past redemption?