Un crime dans la tête (1962)

A former prisoner of war is brainwashed as an unwitting assassin for an international Communist conspiracy.

Director:

John Frankenheimer

Writers:

Richard Condon (based upon a novel by), George Axelrod (screenplay)

Stars:

Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Frank Sinatra	...	Major Bennett Marco
Laurence Harvey	...	Raymond Shaw
Janet Leigh	...	Eugenie Rose Chaney
Angela Lansbury	...	Mrs. Eleanor Shaw Iselin
Henry Silva	...	Chunjin
James Gregory	...	Senator John Yerkes Iselin
Leslie Parrish	...	Jocelyn Jordan
John McGiver	...	Senator Thomas Jordan
Khigh Dhiegh	...	Dr. Yen Lo
James Edwards	...	Corporal Allen Melvin
Douglas Henderson	...	Colonel Milt
Albert Paulsen	...	Zilkov
Barry Kelley	...	Secretary of Defense
Lloyd Corrigan	...	Holborn Gaines
Madame Spivy	...	Female Berezovo

Storyline

Major Ben Marco (Frank Sinatra) is an intelligence officer in the U.S. Army. He served valiantly as a captain in the Korean war and his Sergeant, Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey), even won the Medal of Honor. Marco has a major problem however: he has a recurring nightmare, one where two members of his squad are killed by Shaw. He's put on indefinite sick leave and visits Shaw in New York. Shaw for his part has established himself well, despite the misgivings of his domineering mother, Mrs. Eleanor Shaw Iselin (Angela Lansbury). She is a red-baiter, accusing anyone who disagrees with her right-wing reactionary views of being a Communist. Raymond hates her, not only for how she's treated him but equally because of his step-father, the ineffectual U.S. Senator John Iselin (James Gregory), who is intent on seeking higher office. When Marco learns that others in his Korean War unit have nightmares similar to his own, he realizes that something happened to all of them in Korea and that ...

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Plot Keywords:

conspiracy | brainwashed assassin | korean war | recurring nightmare | communist conspiracy | 

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Taglines:

Once unbelievable. Now unthinkable. The chilling classic returns [rerelease]

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 November 1962 (France)

Also Known As:

Un crime dans la tête

Filming Locations:

245 East 49th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

M.C. Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System) Dolby SR Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Four minor characters have the names of actual performers in Phil Silvers' "Sgt. Bilko" segment from The Phil Silvers Show (1955): Silvers, Melvin, Lembeck, Grossfield; and series creator Nat Hiken.

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Goofs

You can see the countryside passing by outside the train window. It's obvious that the actors are not really being filmed on a moving train, but the footage of the moving landscape was shot at an angle. So the camera that's aimed directly towards the window depicts a landscape that's bizarrely moving away from the train on an angle.

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Quotes

Marco: [during the Kung Fu fight with Chunjin] What were you doing there?

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Connections

Remade as Un crime dans la tête (2004)

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Soundtracks

The Washington Post
(1889) (uncredited)
Music by John Philip Sousa
Played by a band in the first scene after the opening credits

User Reviews

One of the best thrillers ever made.

To know that the human mind can be manipulated so easily is indeed a scary thing.The Manchurian Candidate is a thriller so intense it can almost be considered a horror film.If,in fact,things such as those depicted here really did occur,I imagine it did step on some pretty sensitive toes.Bravo to all of those involved in front of the camera and behind it.In particular,Angela Lansbury,whose versatility as an actress is proved here as she plays against the nice lady type roles that we know her for.Among all the film's from the era of the 1960's that I have viewed,I would definitely place this in my top 5.One of the best thrillers ever.