Review of The Manchurian Candidate (1962) by David P — 04 Dec 2010

This is impressively dark. There's a sense of threat, of dread right from the start. Everything is shrouded with overtones and hints that all is not what it seems. Noone seems very likeable, and there's evidently something bad going on, but it's not clear what...

Laurence Harvey is terrific as the war hero who doesn;t feel heroic, and Frank Sinatra does well in the role the audience must relate to, unravelling the plot. But Angela Lansbury is astonishing as perhaps the nastiest mother on film. She's a demon from first to last, many million miles away from 'Murder, She Wrote'.

The cinematography is great, and adds to the menace. Recommended.