The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Jonathan H

  
  It's both exciting and disheartening that a 42 year-old satire like this still works as pointedly as it does. Even crazier to think that The Manchurian Candidate probably wouldn't have gotten made at all if it weren't for its star, Frank Sinatra. Studios were reluctant… More
  It's both exciting and disheartening that a 42 year-old satire like this still works as pointedly as it does. Even crazier to think that The Manchurian Candidate probably wouldn't have gotten made at all if it weren't for its star, Frank Sinatra. Studios were reluctant to touch the politically sensitive book, dealing as it does with the Soviet brainwashing of an American citizen into becoming an instant assassin, studios fearing it might interfere with the U.S. Government's relations with Russia at a crucial period in history. But Sinatra was a friend of then-President John F. Kennedy, and when he asked the President what he thought about the idea of making the movie, Kennedy said to go for it. Ironically, when Kennedy was shot a year or so later, the studio and Sinatra insisted the movie be removed from circulation, and for over a quarter of a century it remained withdrawn, not appearing again until its rerelease in 1988. In any case, its MIA years only enhanced its reputation. When it resurfaced, it was a legitimate, concrete classic. Not to mention that 1987 audiences, inundated with Beverly Hills Cop II, Three Men and a Baby, etc., realized that nothing currently playing quite packed the punch of this 25 year-old relic. What's more, its story -- centered around a Joseph McCarthy-like senator attempting to shake up the American public via fear of Communism and a coup to steal the presidency -- easily translated to modern-day, post-Nixon political paranoia. Sinatra does his bes as the heroic but tortured Major Marco, a man who first thinks he might be going mad and then slowly catches on that something outside himself is amiss. Laurence Harvey is good as the seemingly indomitable Shaw, a hardnose with few or no friends, who seems tough and self composed on the outside yet is easily twisted around his mother's clinging finger as well as the Communists'. Harvey portrays a character of strength and weakness simultaneously, a neat accomplishment. But the real standout in the show is Angela Lansbury, who was nominated for, but did not win, a Best-Supporting Actress Oscar. (She did win a Golden Globe, but who remembers?) Lansbury is brilliant as the nasty, evil, sinister, conniving mother who has her own personal plans for her son as well as for her lamebrain senator husband. Her son constantly resents her, yet he ceaselessly complies with her will. It's only toward the end of the film, when we see the mother plant a big wet one on the son's lips, that we begin to understand the full import of the situation. Yet another part of the film's fine madness is that Ms. Lansbury was only three years older than Laurence Harvey when she played his mother, and nobody seems to notice! Still, Hitchcock beat Frankenheimer on that front a few years earlier by casting Jessie Royce Landis as Cary Grant's mother in "North By Northwest." Landis and Grant were the same age. All that said, the film isn't without its flaws. The karate fight between Marco and Henry Silva is ridiculous and sluggish, with no tension to be found, and Janet Leigh's character adds nothing to the plot. Of course, none of the film makes the least bit of logical sense. It's not meant to. But while it's happening, it seems rational enough. One of the beauties of the script is that no matter how high it's piled, we go along with it. But, really, a whole patrol is completely brainwashed in only a few days? Shaw is programmed to obey any command he's given to murder at any time? The mother is Lady Macbeth? The stepfather senator is an idiot? Within the same political party there is an ultraconservative right-winger and an ultraliberal left-winger? Yet as a symbolic fable and lampoon, it all works. Frankenheimer and company actually have us believing that Shaw is not only ready to murder on command, but as the movie moves forward that he is able to do so in brutally efficient fashion. Yes, there are events that are perhaps a tad too easy to see coming. Yes, there is perhaps too much given away at the beginning that might have served to build the suspense a bit more if saved for later. And, yes, there is a subplot concerning Major Marco's meeting and falling in love with a beautiful young woman (Janet Leigh) that seems almost wholly extraneous. But, overall, the film has as much impact today as it had when it was made. Probably more impact today, since much of the film's hyperbole has turned out to be at least in part intriguingly possible. Let us not forget Lee Harvey Oswald and company.

• Mister C

  
  "Raymond Shaw is the kindest,bravest,warmest,most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life." Strange,thrilling and at times hilarious,there's never quite been a top notch thriller like 1962's "The Manchurian Candidate".....not even the 2004… More
  "Raymond Shaw is the kindest,bravest,warmest,most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life." Strange,thrilling and at times hilarious,there's never quite been a top notch thriller like 1962's "The Manchurian Candidate".....not even the 2004 remake with Denzel Washington doesn't even come close. At the height of its 1962 theatrical release,the film was hugely controversial at the time;rumors have long circulated that star-producer Frank Sinatra had it withdrawn from circulation for years because of its subsequent echoes of the Kennedy assassination. But it wasn't until 1987,when Sinatra had it reinstated back in theatres giving it a newly restored print and to have audiences see it for the first time since it was theatrically released in 1962. The unfortunate Raymond Shaw(Laurence Harvey),is a loner who arrives home in the U.S. a hero after being captured by the Koreans...though his fellow soldier Bennett Marco(Frank Sinatra)can't help but feel something's up. The witty screenplay by George Axelrod contains dozens of quotable lines while John Frankenheimer's direction creates a wonderfully tense yet surreal tone,including a hallucinated flashback involving mad scientists and multiple garden parties and one of the most nail-biting climaxes in cinema. Not to mention Angela Lansbury as Raymond's sadistic evil-intent mom. Weirdly,though this film is a product of the Cold War and infinitely more powerful political thriller than what passes for thrillers today,the original still stands.

• Aditya G

  
  "The Manchurian Candidate", based on a novel of the same name (written by Richard Condon) is one of the finest political thrillers out there. An American Platoon is captured by the Soviets. They are all taken to Manchuria in Communist China and are subjected to a series… More
  "The Manchurian Candidate", based on a novel of the same name (written by Richard Condon) is one of the finest political thrillers out there. An American Platoon is captured by the Soviets. They are all taken to Manchuria in Communist China and are subjected to a series of 'brainwashing' experiments for some political motive, the nature of which is made clear only as the film progresses. Revealing anything more would be sacrilege. This shocking picture has to be seen to be believed. Laurence Harvey stars as Raymond Shaw, the central character who is the 'chosen one' in this political conspiracy. Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury star in supporting roles along with some others. All of them deliver fine performances in this tragic tale of deceit and corruption. John Frankenheimer does a brilliant job of directing and makes sure there is not a single dull moment, gets some of the best acting done from his cast, shoots some of the most memorable sequences ever filmed in cinema and takes the movie to a very satisfying conclusion. This unique film deserves to be seen over and over again and holds tremendous repeat value. Do not miss...it's a mind-blowing experience!

• Jeremy S

  
  The greatest Suspense thriller. With Sinatra who should have stuck to singing, and the perfect Angela Lansby. Programmed by the red under the bed Communists with the clever Queen of Hearts device. Notable for its political satire, visual inventiveness, and Lansbury's best… More
  The greatest Suspense thriller. With Sinatra who should have stuck to singing, and the perfect Angela Lansby. Programmed by the red under the bed Communists with the clever Queen of Hearts device. Notable for its political satire, visual inventiveness, and Lansbury's best performance as a scheming mother. The final scene is so suspenseful I could scarsely keep still.

• Jason O

  
  Had to watch this for Contemporary History class in college and...meh.

• Randy T

  
  John Frankenheimer's <i>The Manchurian Candidate</i>, based on Richard Condon's novel, follows the lives of a group of Korean War veterans as they discover that their subconscious has been 'altered' in a covert mind-control experiment. Using a… More
  John Frankenheimer's <i>The Manchurian Candidate</i>, based on Richard Condon's novel, follows the lives of a group of Korean War veterans as they discover that their subconscious has been 'altered' in a covert mind-control experiment. Using a fictitious U.S. Senator (played by James Gregory) as an obvious stand-in for the fanatical Senator Joseph McCarthy, Frankenheimer is able to turn 'the communist threat' inside-out and use it to show that American's have as much to fear from their own politicians as they do from their cold war antagonists. All politics aside, this one is worth seeing just for Angela Lansbury alone. She's arguably cemented herself as one of the most despicable screen villains of all time with her performance as the cold-hearted (and incestuous) mother-from-hell.

• Chris W

  
  As highly regarded as this film is, I gotta say, it's pretty overrated. Either that, or I just don't know what I'm talking about. I wanted to really like this more than I did. It's a tad overlong, unevenly paced, and a bit boring at times (poor execution here and… More
  As highly regarded as this film is, I gotta say, it's pretty overrated. Either that, or I just don't know what I'm talking about. I wanted to really like this more than I did. It's a tad overlong, unevenly paced, and a bit boring at times (poor execution here and there). Maybe I'm nitpicking, maybe I'm not, but I really had a hard time getting into this. The performances are really good though (but I think Janet's Leigh's role was pointless). I really liked the concept and story, but as I said, it was hard for me to find really engaging. I will say this though, Angela Lansbury was a real surprise. She's a great villain, and the incest angle adds some real balls.

• Ken S

  
  One of the all time great thrillers and Frank Sinatra's finest performance

• Aaron N

  
  Mrs. Iselin: Why don't you pass the time with a game of solitaire? A political thriller, set during the 50s involving an assassin who is trained to forget what he is doing, serving as a pawn for communists. A group of soldiers in Korea are suddenly kidnapped by a mysterious… More
  Mrs. Iselin: Why don't you pass the time with a game of solitaire? A political thriller, set during the 50s involving an assassin who is trained to forget what he is doing, serving as a pawn for communists. A group of soldiers in Korea are suddenly kidnapped by a mysterious group. Things suddenly switch gears, as this group then turns up a few days later having returned home, with one of the men Raymond Shaw, played by Lawrence Harvey, being celebrated as a war hero, being given the medal of honor. This is all well and good, but something does not sit right with Maj. Ben Marco, played by Frank Sinatra. He keeps having a reoccurring dream involving him and his men stuck in some facility, witnessing a calm Shaw murder two of his fellow men with no remorse. It is in fact a true dream. All of these men have been brainwashed, with Shaw serving as a political assassin, who should be suspected by no one and is triggered by a certain playing card when the time is right. To make matters worse, Shaw's mother, played by Angela Lansbury, is a cold, calculating monster, who dictates to her senator husband exactly what is to be done in order to serve her own mysterious purposes. Eventually Marco becomes tasked with finding out the truth of the matters, and hopefully stopping whatever it is that is going on. Janet Leigh, looking very good, also shows up as a companion for Marco, and while the movie doesn't explicitly go into it, she too, may have an ulterior motive. The movie was directed by John Frankenheimer, who knows a thing or two about making thrillers. This is a very well made movie that works well due to the sustained atmosphere containing both a subtle espionage aspect and an ironic sense of humor throughout. The performers are also very game to make this work. Sinatra is a cool guy, who you don't want to see become so distressed. Lansbury is just plain evil. And Harvey, playing my favorite character in this film is tricky enough by having to go in and out of his killer trans. The score is also somewhat haunting and fitting with the rest of the film. This is a very good movie, one of the best political thrillers I have seen. Dr. Yen Lo: His brain has not only been washed, as they say... It has been dry cleaned.

• Tsubaki S

  
  Not bad, a propaganda/thriller flick that has served as the blueprint of every lazy "OH NOES, THEYRE GOING TO KILL DA PREZIDENT" shit of a movie that has come out ever since. Silly plot but with some nicely done sequences. Angela Lansbury is ruthless (yes, you read that… More
  Not bad, a propaganda/thriller flick that has served as the blueprint of every lazy "OH NOES, THEYRE GOING TO KILL DA PREZIDENT" shit of a movie that has come out ever since. Silly plot but with some nicely done sequences. Angela Lansbury is ruthless (yes, you read that well) in her role.

• Drew S

  
  This movie is basically the shit. It must have been a great year for film for this to have only picked up two Oscar nominations, though they were certainly deserved ones - Best Supporting Actress for the amazing Angela Lansbury and Best Editing. The Manchurian Candidate is by far… More
  This movie is basically the shit. It must have been a great year for film for this to have only picked up two Oscar nominations, though they were certainly deserved ones - Best Supporting Actress for the amazing Angela Lansbury and Best Editing. The Manchurian Candidate is by far one of the most intense movies of its time period, and still an astonishingly water-tight thriller today. I knew absolutely nothing about the movie before watching it and some of the plot developments (I hesitate to call them "twists" because that just brings to mind the cheap shit that awful movies try to redeem themselves with) knocked me for a loop. How awesome was that dream sequence at the beginning? There are so many innovative plot elements woven in that you'd never have seen in an early 60s film. Frank Sinatra was bad, proving that even the pop stars of four decades past shouldn't have been in movies, but who cares? Angela Lansbury should have played all the parts. I bet she'd do it, too. Bitch is hardcore. I'm seriously in love with her Mrs. Iselin; even though her character is already fascinating enough, Lansbury adds infinite charisma to this Dragon Lady politico, creating a magnetizing presence. This has aged remarkably; it still remains a political thriller of the highest form. I really want to see the remake now, I hear it's not bad either.

• Cindy I

  
  A thriller with Frank Sinatra and Lawrence Harvey, about brainwashing of American soldiers during the Korean War. Soldiers of one unit are all having the same nightmare that may or may not be connected to their service time. Angela Landsbury is chilling as the power-hungry mother of… More
  A thriller with Frank Sinatra and Lawrence Harvey, about brainwashing of American soldiers during the Korean War. Soldiers of one unit are all having the same nightmare that may or may not be connected to their service time. Angela Landsbury is chilling as the power-hungry mother of Lawrence Harvey (in reality only 3 years older than him) who will stop at nothing to get her husband in the White House. A scary, thought-provoking view of political power. This couldn't really happen though...right?

• Dean M

  
  The most poundingly suspenseful political thriller I ever saw.

• Lanning :

  
  Another one where the original is infintely superior to the remake. Just compare the mother characters played by Angela Lansbury and Meryl Streep. That's what I mean by a true villain versus a creepy mom. Big difference. <p> Laurence Harvey is another actor who died far… More
  Another one where the original is infintely superior to the remake. Just compare the mother characters played by Angela Lansbury and Meryl Streep. That's what I mean by a true villain versus a creepy mom. Big difference. <p> Laurence Harvey is another actor who died far too young. What a talent.

• Michael G

  
  This movie was eons ahead of its time.

• Darik H

  
  The foremost thing I have to say about The Manchurian Candidate is that it is, at times, a surreal film. This is meant, however, on multiple levels. While there are parts of the film (the dream sequences, particularly) where cross-cutting and juxtaposition create an uneven and jarring… More
  The foremost thing I have to say about The Manchurian Candidate is that it is, at times, a surreal film. This is meant, however, on multiple levels. While there are parts of the film (the dream sequences, particularly) where cross-cutting and juxtaposition create an uneven and jarring reality completely intentionally, it is the moments of lucidity that I often found most bizarre (particularly the ones involving Janet Leigh). Apart from this, however, the Manchurian Candidate is an intriguing, if overly long, political thriller that, while it takes far too much time to explain its premise and is often overly blunt in its portrayals, still manages to involve the viewer right up until the emotional and thought-provoking ending. In the film, Frank Sinatra is Korean vet Ben Marco, who is having nightmares about the days he and his platoon went M.I.A. While he claims to remember that a fellow soldier, Raymond Shaw, fought off an enemy troops and saved the surviving men, his dreams are telling him that they were captured and brainwashed, and that Shaw had been programmed to kill two of his own men. Desperate to discover what happened to him and his platoon, Ben tries to get in contact with Shaw to see what may have been done to him... and to try to discover who is behind the whole cover-up. Frank Sinatra as Ben Marco doesn't give a bad performance, exactly... it just wasn't all that great. We see Marco as a military man, whose whole life revolves around being in the service, but beyond that nugget of information, we've got nothin' on him (well, he is a smoker, but then again, wasn't everybody in the sixties?). Sinatra makes the role believable- as in, you don't say "Wow, that guy is a lousy actor" during the film- but he never really pops as a character of his own; he's just... a guy. We get exactly the opposite problem with Raymond Shaw, as played by Lawrence Harvey: at first, Shaw comes off as a stereotypical snobby asshole, complete with a British accent that is never explained, and for the first half of the film, it is hard to feel much but disdain for the guy. However, halfway through the movie, the character actually starts to develop, as we see that Raymond isn't a jerk entirely by choice- he's been forced to give up everything he loves by his controlling mother, and it's his lack of freedom that turned him into the man he is. As the film goes on, his character garners more and more pathos, until, at the climax of the film, we truly feel deeply for Raymond and the tragedy that his life was forced into becoming. Though Raymond is molded into the shape of a monster by the evil Communists (and what a mustache-twirling bunch they are), we soon see that the real monster of the story is Mrs. Iselin (played by Angela Lansbury), the wife of (and brains behind) the oafish Senator Iselin and ruthlessly domineering mother of Raymond. This woman has to be the most despicable character I've yet seen on film (at least, she was to me)- we see that through her insatiable political ambition and her manipulative force of will, she had broken down Raymond's will long before the Commies ever got their hands on him. The irony and hypocrisy of the character just makes her loathsome to my tastes, and it doesn't help that Lansbury gives a dead-on portrayal of a shark in mother's clothing. Also in this film is Janet Leigh as Eugenie Rose Chaney, a character that serves NO PURPOSE WHATSOEVER save as a sounding board for Sinatra. Literally, there is ONE SCENE in which the two meet and have a conversation, which ends with her giving him her ADDRESS and PHONE NUMBER, and then after that, she's an expositional tool, nothing more. THAT, my friends, is just sloppy writing. In fact, quite a few moments struck me as being poorly written, whether it was because the dialogue just didn't sound natural, or because there was too much of a reliance on coincidence to move the plot forward (the bartender says the EXACT WORDS that start Raymond's trance? Jocelyn Jordan just HAPPENS to wear a red queen costume to the Iselin party?), but at the same time, there are some good, solidly written moments, too- which leads me to believe that the book is much, much better, and the movie just applied some standard Hollywood conventions to shorten the narrative to feature length. The shot compositions are great, I will say, and the lighting, as well; there's a dark, shadowy tone to certain parts of the film that really jumped out at me. The editing was phenomenal, particularly during the climax, and also in the aforementioned dream sequences, which jump between hallucination and reality so quickly sometimes that it's hard to sort out which is which, while at the same time presenting a cohesive, comprehensible scene. While it has a few problems on the scripting side of things, the Manchurian Candidate is nevertheless an intricate, suspenseful thriller that gets more and more arresting as it goes on, culminating in a fantastic conclusion that will leave you thinking about it long after it's over. Sure, the Communist themes are now dated and somewhat antiquated, there's real power in its message about the loss of freedom, the manipulation of the masses, and the theft of one man's soul.

• Curt C

  
  Great suspense movie that stands the test of time. Angela Landsbury is amazing in this.

• Edward S

  
  "The Manchurian Candidate" is a ridiculously entertaining, gigantically encapsulating film, even if its political stance is vague, its narrative structure slightly uneven, and its inability to answer many questions it provides the viewer (what happened to the communist… More
  "The Manchurian Candidate" is a ridiculously entertaining, gigantically encapsulating film, even if its political stance is vague, its narrative structure slightly uneven, and its inability to answer many questions it provides the viewer (what happened to the communist co-conspirators?) It displays bold direction, very memorable characters, and a wonderful, thrilling, and provocative story.

• Quinto W

  
  Amazing performances from everyone involved, especially Angela Lansbury, fantastic editing and a story full of tension and suspense that won't let you go.

• David S

  
  A really odd film to come out of Hollywood and especially odd in that it stars the king of cool Frank Sinatra! However it is it's oddness that makes it so good. All of the characters are a little bit f****d up and this is highlighted in the dialogue throughout. Angela Lansbury is… More
  A really odd film to come out of Hollywood and especially odd in that it stars the king of cool Frank Sinatra! However it is it's oddness that makes it so good. All of the characters are a little bit f****d up and this is highlighted in the dialogue throughout. Angela Lansbury is terrifying as the mother from hell and Janet Leigh (although having little to do) is incredibly sexy as Frank's love interest. Laurence Harvey is tragic in this role (just look at the pain on his face after the double killing scene) and I suppose is really the lead although Sinatra is also very good in his best role ever. Can't imagine they topped this with the remake.

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