The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

A former Korean War POW is brainwashed by Communists into becoming a political assassin. But another former prisoner may know how to save him.

Director:

John Frankenheimer

Writers:

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

Stars:

Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh

Top 250 #203 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 7 wins & 4 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 is an intelligence officer in the U.S. Army. He served valiantly as a captain in the Korean war and his Sergeant, Raymond Shaw, 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. 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, 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 Raymond Shaw is the focal point.

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Plot Keywords:

nightmare | korean war | army | korea | medal of honor | 

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Taglines:

If you come in five minutes after this picture begins, you won't know what it's all about! When you've seen it all, you'll swear there's never been anything like it!

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Romance | Thriller | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 October 1962 (USA)

Also Known As:

Botschafter der Angst

Filming Locations:

67 Riverside Drive, 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:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The topic of the movie was considered politically so highly sensitive it was censored and prohibited just before its theatrical release in many of the former 'Iron Curtain' countries, such as Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria - and even in neutral countries such as Finland and Sweden. The theatrical premiere for most of those countries was held after the collapse of Soviet Union in 1993.

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Goofs

As Shaw arrives at the airport at the beginning of the film, several discrepancies on his uniform coat can be seen: he has two overseas bars at the bottoms of both sleeves (should be only on the left sleeve); he wears no three-year service stripes, even though he has obviously been in the service longer than three years; and he wears no ribbons for the National Defense Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, or for World War II service (his age and rank indicate he would also have served during that war).

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Quotes

Raymond Shaw: My dear girl, have you ever noticed that the human race is divided into two distinct and irreconcilable groups: those that walk into rooms and automatically turn television sets on, and those that walk into rooms and automatically turn them off. The trouble is that they end up marrying each other.

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Connections

Referenced in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

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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

A perfect suspense film

I cannot comment about the similarities or dissimilarities between this film and its recent remake. That's because the original film was so perfect, so exciting, so well acted and written, there was no reason for a remake and there is no conceivable way any remake could have improved on the original story--it was THAT good!

The story begins in a Chinese Communist indoctrination camp as an officer demonstrates how thoroughly he has indoctrinated a group of American POWs from the Korean War. Then, suddenly, the scene changes to America years later. The brainwashed prisoners are now home and have no idea that their minds were changed. I'd say more, but don't want to ruin the suspense. All I really want to say is that Angela Lansbury does NOT play a nice character like "Mrs. Potts" in this film. In fact, she is at her most evil and amazing. Additionally, Frank Sinatra has one of his finest on-screen performances in this amazing film. It's a must-see--it's THAT good!

This is yet another amazing drama from director John Frankenheimer. See this and try some of his other brilliant films such as SEVEN DAYS IN MAY and SECONDS.