Amazon.com Essentials:
You will never find a more chillingly suspenseful, perversely
funny, or viciously satirical political thriller than The
Manchurian Candidate, based on the novel by Richard Condon
(author of Winter Kills). The film, withheld from distribution by star
Frank Sinatra for almost a quarter century after President Kennedy's
assassination, has lost none of its potency over time. Former
infantryman Bennet Marco (Sinatra) is haunted by nightmares about his
platoon having been captured and brainwashed in Korea. The
indecipherable dreams seem to center on Sergeant Raymond Shaw
(Laurence Harvey), a decorated war hero but a cold fish of a man whose
own mother (Angela Lansbury, in one of the all-time great dragon-lady
roles) describes him as looking like his head is "always about to
come to a point." Mrs. Bates has nothing on Lansbury's character,
the manipulative queen behind her second husband, Senator John Iselin
(James Gregory), a notoriously McCarthyesque demagogue. --Jim Emerson
Amazon.com Essentials:
You will never find a more chillingly suspenseful, perversely
funny, or viciously satirical political thriller than The
Manchurian Candidate, based on the novel by Richard Condon
(author of Winter Kills). The film, withheld from distribution by star
Frank Sinatra for almost a quarter century after President Kennedy's
assassination, has lost none of its potency over time. Former
infantryman Bennet Marco (Sinatra) is haunted by nightmares about his
platoon having been captured and brainwashed in Korea. The
indecipherable dreams seem to center on Sergeant Raymond Shaw
(Laurence Harvey), a decorated war hero but a cold fish of a man whose
own mother (Angela Lansbury, in one of the all-time great dragon-lady
roles) describes him as looking like his head is "always about to
come to a point." Mrs. Bates has nothing on Lansbury's character,
the manipulative queen behind her second husband, Senator John Iselin
(James Gregory), a notoriously McCarthyesque demagogue. Digital video
disc extras include interviews with Sinatra, producer George Axelrod,
and director John Frankenheimer, and audio commentary by
Frankenheimer. --Jim Emerson
