Review of The Manchurian Candidate (1962) by Spangle — 06 Jun 2017

Remade by Jonathan Demme in 2004, John Frankenheimer's The Manchurian Candidate is often cited as the classic to Demme's average remake. Personally, I find the original to only be slightly better than its re-do, perhaps because the cast of that film just worked so well in their respective roles. Regardless, Frankenheimer's film is undoubtedly a strong work that is laced with communist paranoia, great acting, and possesses an unpredictability throughout that allows for a truly explosive ending. Though its slow pace allows some issues such as its sometimes iffy characters and rushed plotting to bubble up to the surface quite readily, The Manchurian Candidate remains a terrifying and entertaining political thriller that is still rather relevant today.

This communist paranoia is often what led to such brilliant films of the era, but usually it is just derived from the monolithic Soviet Union. Here, Frankenheimer focuses on the red scare at home and abroad. With an American man, thought to be a hero, being controlled by the communists for their own political gain, the scene is set for the fear of the communists to come to life. Abroad, the Chinese are equally a part of this with the North Koreans and Russians also having a hand. It is the entire communist bloc of the east that has united to take on the American political system. It is terrifying, deadly, and a stroke of genius to have one of our own do the infiltration they desperately need to do. At home, Senator John Iselin (James Gregory) practices a brand of McCarthyism where he just wildly accuses everybody of being a communist party member and calls his political opponents communists. All of his moves are dictated by his wife Mrs. Iselin (Angela Lansbury). The poor people have no idea that his stepson, Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey), is the man being controlled by the communists. Setting the atmosphere right with this irony between Iselin's rhetoric and the fact that the his own stepson is a tool for the commies, Frankenheimer's film has rampant paranoia coursing through its veins that constantly keeps the audience on edge. Who is a commie? Who is a commie tool? Are there any commies?

Yet, what is interesting is how the film opts to damn both the communists and the hysterics in America. While the Communists are naturally the antagonists in the film for how they try and assassinate a political candidate by brainwashing another man, the film shows both Mrs. Iselin and John Iselin as being frauds concerned with power. Neither actually believe the nonsense John spews, but he is made to spout it all because it is good for him to do so politically. The film, essentially, turns this duo into the antagonists for their manipulation of the American people to becoming a fearful bunch just waiting to see who could possibly be a Soviet operative hiding in plain sight. Through both the writing and actions on-screen, Frankenheimer assures the audience that the Communists are not the only bad ones here: the politicians that made their name fearmongering are just as bad.

What makes the film most impactful, however, is its unpredictability. From reveals about who is and who is not a Soviet operative to the thrilling climax, The Manchurian Candidate is a thoroughly unpredictable film, even for those who have seen the original. It is a film that constantly keeps the audience on edge and awaiting what comes next because throughout, Frankenheimer proves that what we see is not always true. Introducing this concept when we first see Maj. Bennett Marco's (Frank Sinatra) dreams, the film constantly calls our attention to the fact that this dream may not be a dream and, even if it is, where did it come from? A terrifying concept about memory implantation that throws into disarray everything we know up to that point, Frankenheimer keeps working his magic throughout, never really allowing the audience to settle in and figure out exactly what is coming next.

That is not to say the film is not flawed, however. Though the acting is strong across the board from Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh, and Angela Lansbury, the film's writing of some characters can often struggle. For example, poor Janet Leigh is stranded in a nothing role as a woman who Marco meets on a train. She does well in the role that is more than a girlfriend role due to the odd conversation she has with him on the train that hints at the possibility of her being a Communist operative herself, but the film hardly does anything about it. If she is a Communist operative, she is not a very good one as Marco continues to pursue Shaw anyways. If she is not, then that is just the weirdest and most out-of-left-field conversation in the history of film. Regardless, her character is largely left flapping in the wind to do nothing but allow us to realize that Communists could be anybody or that person could just be a bit different.