The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

75% User Rating

2h 6min

"When you've seen it all, you'll swear there's never been anything like it!"

Near the end of the Korean War, a platoon of U.S. soldiers is captured by communists and brainwashed. Following the war, the platoon is returned home, and Sergeant Raymond Shaw is lauded as a hero by the rest of his platoon. However, the platoon commander, Captain Bennett Marco, finds himself plagued by strange nightmares and soon races to uncover a terrible plot.

John FrankenheimerDirector

Cast

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Frank Sinatra

Capt./Maj. Bennett Marco

Laurence Harvey

Raymond Shaw

Angela Lansbury

Mrs. Iselin

Janet Leigh

Eugenie Rose Chaney

James Gregory

Sen. John Yerkes Iselin

Henry Silva

Chunjin

Leslie Parrish

Jocelyn Jordan

John McGiver

Sen. Thomas Jordan

Khigh Dhiegh

Dr. Yen Lo

James Edwards

Cpl. Allen Melvin

Douglas Henderson

Col. Milt

Albert Paulsen

Zilkov

Barry Kelley

Secretary of Defense

Lloyd Corrigan

Holborn Gaines

Madame Spivy

Female Berezovo

Bess Flowers

Gomel's Lady Counterpart (uncredited)

Leoda Richards

Woman at Press Confrence (uncredited)

Reggie Nalder

Gomel (uncredited)

Colin Kenny

Senator (uncredited)

Bert Stevens

Officer

Arthur Tovey

Second Reporter

Paul Frees

Narrator (voice)

Whit Bissell

Medical Officer

James Yagi

Chinese Officer (uncredited)

Tom Lowell

Pvt. Bobby Lembeck (uncredited)

Joe Adams

Psychiatrist

Merritt Bohn

Jilly

Robert Riordan

Benjamin K. Arthur

Raoul Freeman

Reporter (uncredited)

Rudy Germane

Delegate (uncredited)

Herschel Graham

Delegate (uncredited)

Stuart Hall

Reporter (uncredited)

Reviews (1)

All Reviews

CinemaSerf

Rating 80%

November 19, 2024

An outstandingly (and Golden Globe winning) vile performance from Angela Lansbury - well and truly putting her silly old maid roles to one side, makes a magnificent contribution to one of the most thought-provoking thrillers ever to come out of 1960s Hollywood. Frank Sinatra and Laurence Harvey return from the Korean War - the latter to great acclaim, winning the Medal of Honour. Both suffer from terrible nightmares and when Sinatra discovers that other survivors from their unit are also suffering; and that somehow Harvey is the fulcrum of it all we descend into an abyss of manipulation, brain "dry-cleaning", mind-control and red-bashing that is really quite unsettling - and entirely plausible. Janet Leigh, James Gregory and a truly malevolent Khigh Dhiegh as "Dr. Yen Lo" all gel well to create a masterpiece of tension and threat with the tightly shot direction; subtle use of light and music and a truly gripping dialogue contributing to a truly menacing adaptation of Richard Condon's visionary novel. A must see...