As ensconced as John Frankenheimer’s The Manchurian Candidate is in Cold War politics and Communist paranoia, this absorbing, captivating thriller is still as timely and relevant as ever. Through the actions of the politicians that the film revolves around and the fear of losing control of one’s own mind and their own free will, Frankenheimer has made a film that stands as timeless as ever.
The film is anchored by two heavyweight performances in Frank Sinatra and Laurence Harvey, plus a deeply disturbed supporting role by Angela Lansbury. Frank Sinatra plays Marco, a Korean War vet troubled by dreams of fellow soldier Raymond Shaw, played by Harvey, murdering his own soldiers under Communist duress. As we soon find, Shaw has been brainwashed to commit a terrible act of sabotage against the United States. A bubbling sense of conspiracy and dread builds as Shaw and Marco struggle with what it all means. Lansbury plays Shaw’s manipulative mother, the wife of a US Senator vying for the vice-Presidency.
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