The Manchurian Candidate (1962) | |
| Director(s) | John Frankenheimer |
| Producer(s) | George Axelrod, John Frankenheimer, Howard W. Koch (executive) |
| Top Genres | Drama, Film Adaptation, Mystery, Thriller/Suspense, War |
| Top Topics | Army, Book-Based, Korean War, Mother/Son, Politics |
Featured Cast:
The Manchurian Candidate Overview:
The Manchurian Candidate (1962) was a Drama - Mystery Film directed by John Frankenheimer and produced by John Frankenheimer, George Axelrod and Howard W. Koch.
The film was based on the novel of the same name written by Richard Condon published in 1959.
SYNOPSIS
Among the most lauded political thrillers of all time, this film was amazingly prescient in light of the recent attraction of conspiracy theories. Korean War hero Harvey is a brainwashed human time bomb engineered to further a hidden Communist takeover, with Sinatra the one man who stands in his way. A mix of black-comic political satire (Gregory, in his finest performance as a Joe McCarthy-like demagogue) and an energetic, violent, and disturbing exercise in suspense, the film has resonance like few others of its time. Perhaps the finest work by Frankenheimer, featuring an outstanding cast (Lansbury, in the role of her career as Harvey's scheming mother) and one of the saddest scores of all time by Amram. Not to be missed. Based on Richard Condon's harrowing novel. The laserdisc collector's edition is digitally remastered and includes the original theatrical trailer.
(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).
.The Manchurian Candidate was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1994.
Academy Awards 1962 --- Ceremony Number 35 (source: AMPAS)
| Award | Recipient | Result |
| Best Supporting Actress | Angela Lansbury | Nominated |
| Best Film Editing | Ferris Webster | Nominated |
BlogHub Articles:
More than “just a film”: The Manchurian Candidate (John Frankenheimer, 1962)
By Virginie Pronovost on Jul 5, 2019 From The Wonderful World of CinemaJohn Frankenheimer is one of those movie directors whose films, I feel, are so unique, that I couldn’t compare them with the work of anybody else. He fits, I believe,? in the category of those “authors”. But it’s subtle and you have to look at them with a lot of reflexions. T... Read full article
1001 Classic Movies: The Manchurian Candidate
By Amanda Garrett on Sep 8, 2017 From Old Hollywood FilmsThe Manchurian Candidate (1962) is one of the 1001 classic movies you should see. The political thriller stars Laurence Harvey as a disturbed Korean War veteran and Angela Lansbury as his domineering mother. Each week, I'm going to recommend a classic movie you should see (for the reasons behind ... Read full article
The Manchurian Candidate
By Beatrice on Jul 26, 2017 From Flickers in TimeThe Manchurian Candidate Directed by John Frankenheimer Written by George Axelrod from a novel by Richard Conden 1962/USA M.C. Productions Repeat viewing/My DVD collection One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die I consider this the best conspiracy movie ever made. ?Pity about Janet Leigh&#... Read full article
CCU38: The Manchurian Candidate
By Aaron West on May 22, 2016 From Criterion BluesMay 22 Posted by aaronwest Mark, Aaron and Paul Cobb look at John Frankenheimer’s political thriller, The Manchurian Candidate. We explore the originality and how it influenced other paranoia films, how it spoke to the spirit of the 1960s, as a satire towards McCarthyism, and how it has remai... Read full article
CCU38: The Manchurian Candidate
By Aaron West on May 22, 2016 From Criterion BluesMay 22 Posted by aaronwest Mark, Aaron and Paul Cobb look at John Frankenheimer’s political thriller, The Manchurian Candidate. We explore the originality and how it influenced other paranoia films, how it spoke to the spirit of the 1960s, as a satire towards McCarthyism, and how it has remai... Read full article
See all The Manchurian Candidate articles
Quotes from
Raymond Shaw: Job?
Chunjin: Yes Sir, Mr. Shaw.
Raymond Shaw: But my dear fellow, we don't need interpreters here. We all speak the same language.
Raymond Shaw: Put away your Penguin Freud, Diana. And your crystal ball.
Mrs. Iselin: Raymond, I'm your mother. How can you talk to me this way? You know that I want nothing for myself. You know that my whole life has been devoted to helping you...
Raymond Shaw: [Balls his fists and jams them over his ears] Mother...
Mrs. Iselin: And helping Johnny!
Raymond Shaw: Mother...
Mrs. Iselin: My boys!
Raymond Shaw: Mother...
Mrs. Iselin: My two boys!
Raymond Shaw: Mother, stop it.
Mrs. Iselin: That's all I've ever cared about.
Raymond Shaw: Stop it.
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Facts about
Frank Sinatra broke one of his fingers when he hit the table, which was real and not a break-away prop, in the fight sequence with Henry Silva. Due to ongoing filming commitments, he could not rest or bandage his hand properly, causing the injury to heal incorrectly. It caused him chronic discomfort for the rest of his life.
In Richard Condon's novel, the relationship between Mrs. Iselin and her son Raymond is more explicitly incestuous, complete with a bed scene. Director John Frankenheimer and screenwriter George Axelrod wanted to include that element, but reduced it to the less-than-motherly kiss that Mrs. Iselin plants on Raymond's lips. To appease the censors, Frankenheimer instructed Angela Lansbury to put her hand between their mouths and the camera during the kiss to obscure what she was doing a bit. By time of Jonathan Demme's The Manchurian Candidate, the incestuous content between the mother and son shown on screen had been reduced even more, so that the camera cuts away before she kisses her son on the lips, only leaving the implication of that relationship between them.
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