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).

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The Manchurian Candidate was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1994.

Academy Awards 1962 --- Ceremony Number 35 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best Supporting ActressAngela LansburyNominated
Best Film EditingFerris WebsterNominated
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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 Cinema

John 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 Films

The 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 Time

The 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 Blues

May 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 Blues

May 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


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Quotes from

Mrs. Iselin: [to her husband] I keep telling you not to think! You're very, very good at a great many things, but thinking, hon', just simply isn't one of them.


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.


Mrs. Iselin: It has been decided that you will be dressed as a priest, to help you get away in the pandemonium afterwards. Chunjin will give you a two-piece Soviet Army sniper's rifle that fits nicely into a special bag. There's a spotlight booth that won't be in use. It's up under the roof on the Eighth Avenue side of the Garden. You will have absolutely clear, protected shooting. You are to shoot the presidential nominee through the head. And Johnny will rise gallantly to his feet and lift Ben Arthur's body in his arms, stand in front of the microphones and begin to speak. The speech is short. But it's the most rousing speech I've ever read. It's been worked on, here and in Russia, on and off, for over eight years. I shall force someone to take the body away from him and Johnny will really hit those microphones and those cameras with blood all over him, fighting off anyone who tries to help him, defending America even if it means his own death, rallying a nation of television viewers to hysteria, to sweep us up into the White House with powers that will make martial law seem like anarchy! Now, this is very important. I want the nominee to be dead two minutes after he begins his acceptance speech - depending on his reading time under pressure. You are to hit him right at the point that he finishes the phrase, "Nor would I ask of any fellow American in defense of his freedom that which I would not gladly give myself - my life before my liberty." Is that absolutely clear?


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Facts about

Contrary to popular belief, the film was not pulled from circulation following the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It made its American television debut on The CBS Thursday Night Movies in September 1965 (source: Broadcasting magazine), and was repeated on that network later that season. Only when the rights reverted to Frank Sinatra in 1972 did the film disappear from view, although even then turning up for third and fourth network showings on NBC in spring 1974 (source: TV Guide) and summer 1975 (source: Variety). Sinatra's neglect in keeping the film in distribution gave rise to the legend that it was suppressed because of its alleged role in Lee Harvey Oswald's assassination of the 35th president. The legend was further perpetuated when Sinatra, in alliance with MGM/UA, re-released the film to theaters in 1988. When the rumor was debunked in an article in Films in Review, another myth, one claiming that Sinatra and UA had a dispute about the profits, took its place. The myth survives to this day, but it is pure fiction.
George Axelrod copied the lecture about hydrangeas verbatim from a seed catalogue.
In an interview with 'Starlog' magazine in 1990, Henry Silva said "no one was doubled" in the fight scene between him and Frank Sinatra.
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Best Supporting Actress Oscar 1962






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National Film Registry

The Manchurian Candidate

Released 1962
Inducted 1994
(Sound)




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