The short career and long life of Luise Rainer 

Her performance in the good earth was brilliant.

Luise Rainer is unlike any other actress of the era to me. An anamoly in Hollywood history. Her big and soulful eyes matched with emotionally charged acting and intense body language make her an absolute joy to watch. She's theatrical in the best way possible. I discovered her a few months ago through her two back to back Academy Awards for Best Actress. I hold the opinion that she deserved both, for sheer range alone. That isn't an easy thing to pull off. I first saw her playing Anna Held in The Great Ziegfeld, and while the film wasn't great, she had me hooked. Especially with the telephone scene, where she breaks down into tears while talking to her ex husband. It's entirely enthralling and you can feel every emotion. Just over a week later, I saw her portray O-Lan in The Good Earth. A stunning display of acting that has stuck with me since. She took this very simple character and poured so much of her heart into the performance, to the point where it's impossible to look away when she's on screen. I believe it to be her greatest achievement. Since then, I've seen both Dramatic School and Big City. My adoration for this woman grows stronger with each passing day and she's quickly becoming one of my favorite actresses. I can't wait to keep enjoying her films.

VERY interesting and I think the best overview of her life and career that I have ever seen. THANK YOU!

I have nothing but admiration for your excellent work. Thank you. In London in the 1990s I was at an event hosted by Stephen Fry at which Luise was also present, and when he introduced her to the audience there was, l am sad to say, a total lack of interest. She truly was a forgotten star.

Getting your priorities right, protecting your mental health is a successful life.

I've always been fascinated by her career and personal life. Thank you for doing such a good job!

The money Luise Rainer made at MGM under the tutelage of Irving Thalberg and Louis B. Mayer allowed her to have a luxurious and productive life for many, many years to come (including a late 1980's Stage performance in Los Angeles of Enoch Arden at UCLA and personal appearance at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills for a showing of "The Good Earth"). She was back in Hollywood for many occasions with her last visit being in 2010. Her leaving Hollywood allowed Luise to have a private life which was denied so many others. It is indeed sad she had difficulties with Fellini not being able to work with him. Luise Rainer will always be remembered for her unique career during the Golden Era of Hollywood and her subsequent work for the remainder of her very, very long life.

Great work! Thank you for this gift!!!👏👏

That lost opportunity was really a great pity for Anna May Wong … not just because it was a rich complex role, but because it was a “good” (virtuous/upright) role. She wasn’t fondly regarded by Chinese in the 1930s because she always played villainous roles, which were not how Chinese audience wanted themselves to be seen, but there just wasn’t “good” roles for them … I’d imagine it’s the same problem for Hayakawa Sessue.

Fantastic video! Please do one on the great Glenda Jackson next!

I want to commend you on the summation as written about the career and life of Luise Rainer. It was quite a tightrope you walked with what I will call a "quirky" personality---how things turned out for her professionally, as contrasted with others, and the prisms in her personality which propelled the choices Ms. Rainer made. I think your writing and perceptions really captured the angles. Summations can feel obligatory, final steps toward closing the door. But yours here, with Miss Rainer, have a magic to them and encapsulate the ambiguities in a way which breathes. Very fine work. Thank you.

I LOVE Luise Rainer, one of my favorites .. THX especially for the ESCAPADE clips, probably as much as I'll ever see from that one

Thank You So Much For This Beautiful Tribute. She was a Force !!

She was true to herself and refused to let Hollywood eat her alive. She had the opportunity to pursue other passions, she had a long and happy second marriage, and she lived until the age of 104. I would call that “success”.

I watched the filmography of Lusie Rainer around 2019-2020 and I can say when people say she’s miscast in certain roles I feel a lot of it (besides the racism of the good earth casting obviously) had to do with the fact that lusie truly didn’t fully made a consistent translation from stage acting to screen acting which anyone who knows acting know that despite both being formed under similar training can be very different in terms of execution. In fact one actress who’s very similar to her in terms of biographically and career path particularly during the 1930s is Katharine Hepburn, both came from wealthy family, both started their careers as young coming of age women into theatre, both broke out into the Hollywood film industry with overnight success, both had major downfalls just instantly as their successful breakthrough, both hated the Hollywood celebrity culture, and both tried to make their first comeback to acting through a star vehicle Broadway productions but the difference between Katharine and lusie is (besides Katharine being more ambitious and determined to take control of her career) Katharine may have a longer time learning the medium of screen acting even in her failures she seemed to learn from her experiences into becoming more better with screen acting. I feel bc luisie was not only quicker with her rise to fame in Hollywood but also the expectations/potential for her were higher since she won 2 back to back oscars (ironically Katharine would be the only other woman to accomplish this) she didn’t get the consistent practice to really make that transition and develop her craft in a different medium, even doe I’m not 100% fan of lusie acting and I can argue about her 2 Oscar’s (especially for the good earth not just for the casting but winning over Greta Garbo and Barbara Stanwyck in both career/era defining masterclass performances) I still think her journey in Hollywood is one for the history book and I gain nothing but respect for her for fighting her dignity and own agency when she realized the Hollywood industry wasn’t for her

Thank you for this marvellous video! I've been trying to find a biography of her for so long!

I can really get a sense of the love you have for her in this video. She really is a fascinating figure in Hollywood history. Out of curiosity, what do you think of all of the performances you have seen of her?

Bravo . Great as usual Fritz .

Fritz !!! I’m preparing to watch this video but I just want to tell you how interesting all your content is. I wanted to hear first your take on the best actress 1948 race episode from the 300 passions podcast (which was a delightful take !! I recommend it to everyone) and I’m certainly excited to watch this video since I’m not familiar with miss rainer’s work. That’s the great thing about your channel. I get updated on all this great stories and I’m glad I get to do it through your narrative. Thanksss !!!

Now I’m too excited for the next one…why am I like this 😭

Fantastic, intelligent, full-of-heart documentary, bravo! One question, though - the narrator mentions that Luise starred in the 1943 film "Hostages" to fulfill a contract; this was a Paramount Pictures film, so did I miss something, or, at what point was she contracted to Paramount?

Very good video about her life and career. I wonder if she'd be a "household name" if she had been in theater before the days of film. Her talent was never in question, but she couldn't give herself over to the movie industry and the way talent was handled. Thank you!

Luise Rainer adored Garbo and compared her beauty to that of Nefertiti on the Franklin Show. Garbo also left Hollywood at the age of 36 never to return. She also was at that point a very wealthy woman. Both women have very similar lifestyles aside from the fact that Garbo never involved herself in any other projects and never had any husband or children. It would be most interesting for you to do a video on Garbo and possibly compare her life and career to that of Luise Rainer. Neither Luise Rainer or Greta Garbo were fond of Louis B. Mayer, yet had it not been for Louis B. Mayer the World would probably have no knowledge of either woman. It is odd that Garbo will probably be remembered more than any other Actress from the Golden Era of Hollywood.

Luise DID have the star power. Blame the bosses. Movie moguls ruined countless talents. DAMN Louis B.Mayer. DAMN David O. Selznick.... HONOUR Luise's morals.

I really enjoyed your LR profile. I wonder if she could have maintained a successful career in European films had she put her focus in them. I feel she was doomed to a very limited American career in film regardless of the circumstances with her strong accent. She would always be considered exotic and in some ways untouchable to American audiences with a very limited amount of suitable scripts.

strange not movie was made about her life

Her story seems similar to that of fellow "new Garbo" and competitor for Clifford Odets, Frances Farmer. Each actress got grand ideas about herself, got temperamental, blew it.

Probably true, but had it not been for L. B. Mayer we would not have had Garbo or Luise Rainer. In fact we would not have had those Million Stars in the Heavens had it not been for Mr. Mayer. Many loved him and many disliked him immensely. Not an unusual situation for any business. But few could have denied the fact that had it not been for Mr. Mayer we would in no way have the Golden years of Hollywood now to look back upon and simply relish!

Well done examination of Ms. Rainer's career and stardom. I have only viewed a handful of Rainer's films----Great Ziegfeld, Good Earth and Big City...Afraid I found Rainer a bit too much, very mannered, her larger - than - life coquettishness and melancholia can grow "tiresome". I'm positive her performances and sweeping gestures were more suited to Live Theatre. I also think Hollywood cinema simply had no place for her or fellow Mittel - Europeans like Anna Sten, Elizabeth Bergner and Lilian Harvey (yes, Im aware Harvey was British born).

Sie hatte keine Lust den Pakt mit dem Teufel einzugehen. Es wurde ihr klar, dass sie mit ihrer Seele zu zahlen hätte. Respekt!

Please give us time to read the captions. One at a time. Not a whole page in 10 seconds.

I don’t see why people should have such consternation about a Caucasian having played a fictional Chinese woman in a film from way back in 1937, when we have things like a black actress playing an actual historical figure-Anne Boleyn, for whom we have enough information to know pretty well what she looked like-in 2021. Either it’s cultural appropriation both ways, or neither. I expect to see trans gender people playing historical figures of the opposite sex any day now. It may have already occurred, I don’t go out of my way to keep up with contemporary media anymore.

Louise brooks acted, in the same manner, a couple of decades before --

You go on FAR TOO MUCH about Luise. ONE PERSON indeed made it happen - DAVID O. SELZNICK! Bad roles, bad use of her. I'm shocked how much you dump on her.😡😡

I never did like her on screen.

Luise was not Austrian. She was German. There is no "German" Volkstheater in Vienna. Just a "Volkstheater". Germany (120 years old) is not a part of Austria (more than 1100 years old!)

you don't know who Irving Thalberg was? Seriously?

Actors/Actresses definition is to portray as accurately as possible the character their playing! Miss Rainer was the BEST ACTRESS for the job, shame on anyone who thinks it's politically incorrect for a Caucasian to play other ethnic groups! I had no idea at the time that the actor/actresses weren't CHINESE!!! IF Blacks actors can wear WHITE FACE to portray Caucasians, then anything goes and is acceptable, so stop with the cultural appropriation BS!!!! The first book I ever read was THE GOOD EARTH and Luise deservedly earned the award for her great talent! I wonder IF she ever regretted getting RID OF HER BABY, which would have been the legacy of her first love the love of her life!! Anyone with a soul has regrets.

so tired of woke cry bullies. Crying wraycism about things that happened decades ago. Get over it.

She wasn't that great she was forgettable