TMS Muse of the Week: Cristina Raines
(Harry Langdon)
It’s time for another MOTW profile on a lowkey and overlooked actress, and this week it’s one of my favorites: model-turned-actress Cristina Raines. A name that’s probably a big, ‘Who?’ to many; Cristina was never a huge thing during her period in Hollywood, but you still might recognize her. She hit her prime rather quickly while in a serious, regularly profiled relationship with actor and singer-songwriter Keith Carradine; whom she met when the two were co-starring in Leo Garen’s B-movie western Hex (1973). Before Keith, Cristina was about to get controversially typecast as Hispanic and Native American girls on screen, as she’s what is considered ‘ethnically ambiguous.’ Most assume the dark beauty is Latina. But despite her birthname of ‘Cristina Herazo;’ her birthplace being Manila, Philippines; and having a Colombian grandfather; most of Cristina’s ancestry is actually European. Yet during her years as Keith’s girlfriend from 1971 to 1979, Cristina got to live it up among Hollywood royalty, be a part of future film history, and curb any outdated casting cliches.
If you’ve heard of Cristina, you probably discovered her through one of three films: Robert Altman’s Nashville (1975), Ridley Scott’s The Duellists (1977) and/or Michael Winner’s The Sentinel (1977). The former two, of course, co-star Keith. Nashville is an epic, all-star ensemble satire on the country music industry that takes place at a music festival to support an elected candidate for US President. The showbiz tale includes Cristina, Keith and Allan Nichols playing a Peter, Paul & Mary type trio in a quasi-love triangle. The Duellists was Ridley Scott’s official debut into film after years of directing many TV commercials, and is viewed as somewhat of a spiritual successor to Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon (1975). Set during the Napoleonic Wars in early 1800s France, Cristina, Keith and especially Harvey Keitel look almost even more out of place in The Duellists than Ryan O’Neal did in Barry Lyndon. Yet there’s still a stunning, effective quality that works in the picture’s favor, reflected by all the talents involved. The Sentinel was Cristina’s second movie with English B-movie writer-director Michael Winner following The Stone Killer (1973), this time reuniting for a spooky supernatural horror flick. A lot of The Sentinel is pretty silly and dated, but I’m sure Cristina got a kick out of co-starring opposite many legends like Ava Gardner, José Ferrer, Beverly D’Angelo, Martin Balsam and Keith’s father John Carradine.
(François Lochon)
Next to the success of Nashville, Keith was in the midst of a music career on the side and won Best Original Song at the Oscars for his composition ‘I’m Easy.’ Naturally, Cristina was around and inspiring plenty of tracks on Keith’s LPs ‘I’m Easy’ (1976) and ‘Lost and Found’ (1978) while the couple lived in the Topanga Canyon region. After the pair parted ways at the end of the decade, Cristina spent most of the 1980s appearing in various TV movies and series like NBC’s “Centennial” (1978) and NBC’s “Flamingo Road” (1980-82). Another celeb relationship was formed when the starlet dated her co-star of both series, Mark Harmon in 1980-84 too. One reason Cristina’s fame was short lived is because she outright left the whole acting field in 1991, and became a professional nurse, which she still is today. Five years earlier she also married her husband, independent filmmaker Christopher Crowe, and has two children with him.
Cristina hasn’t been interviewed much since leaving entertainment, though she mainly has positive reflections on her glamourous past the few times she’s spoken publicly. Her favorite movie to film was apparently The Duellists, and Robert Altman found her untrained singing in Nashville charming. It’s also a nice cinematic moment between Keith and Cristina, and I think a good end for this piece.