Review of The Manchurian Candidate (1962) by Scott C — 11 Mar 2013

A psychological, political thriller that was years ahead of its time. For those Americans who actually believed that communism was going to infiltrate our government and our systems of operation, this film must have terrified them. What really goes on in war? what parts of their story are withheld from the public? What are the real motives of our influential elected leaders? Who's pockets are they in? Who should we trust? This film creeped me the hell out when I first watched it back in high school and it is still relevant today.

This was a well thought out, expertly directed film by John Frankenheimer with a cast never missing a beat. Angela Lansbury from Murder She Wrote is so persuasive as the all-controlling, world dominating mother that i'd be surprised if she didn't walk away with an Academy Award that year. At a time when political tension between nations were on the rise, war heroes were glorified for their service, many of them elected without any thought that some of them may be still be fighting a silent war. This film, (1962), also precludes a string of major political assassinations that took place in the US. It was almost spelling out what was to come, or giving us a glimpse of some alternative tactics that US-backed military and government might use.

Rarely do black and white films from this era cross as many lines as The Manchurian Candidate did. That is what makes this film so special to me. It is set up to be your typical wartime drama with little old Billy and Mickey Blue Eyes. You just don't expect people to get blown away like they did. And what happened to the Chinese man who facilitated the experiment? And what of his audience? The uncertainty of their whereabouts in the end leaves us with questions and that feeling like this movie really isn't over. Unfortunately, the Cold War carried on into the 1990's which means people really were freaked out and believed theories like this.

All of these questions were successfully written into this script and executed with cinematic perfection. The 2004 remake with Denzel Washington as the black Frank Sinatra aims to expose secret corporate takeover as opposed to communist takeover. That film is commendable but is nowhere near the original and the spook-effect that it generated for years to come.

5/5.