Review of The Manchurian Candidate (1962) by Mike W — 14 Jan 2010

A brilliant & sinister political thriller revolving around Frank Sinatra & Laurence Harvey who are soldiers returning from the Korean conflict. Laurence Harvey is Staff Sergeant Raymond Shaw, who receives the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery under fire while saving most of his platoon, including Captain Bennett Marco (Frank Sinatra). But Marco and other platoon members are having horrible nightmares, which hints that their experience in Korea is not as they remembered. We learn that Sinatra, Harvey and the platoon were actually captured & brainwashed in Korea by Soviet, Chinese and North Korean forces.

Sinatra gives a masterful performance as Marco, a man demonized by his mind to the brink of madness. While Harvey is equally masterful as the cold, unfeeling Shaw. But watch out for Angela Lansbury as Shaw's domineering mother. The woman is positively suffocating and frightening as she manipulates those around her, including Shaw's (seeemingly) doltish commie-baiting step-father, Senator John Iselin (James Gregory).

If I had to be critical, I always felt that Janet Leigh as Marco's love interest seemed rather lightweight. But apart from that, this film is near-perfect, a tribute to the legendary director, John Frankenheimer and the riveting screenplay by George Axelrod. And in my opinion, the 2004 remake comes nowhere near this black-and-white work of art.