Manchurian Candidate, The, a motion picture released in 1962, is one of the most original political thrillers ever filmed in Hollywood. The movie describes how Raymond Shaw, an American soldier, is captured by the Communists during the Korean War (1950-1953) and brainwashed to become an assassin on command. The Manchurian Candidate was directed by John Frankenheimer and starred Frank Sinatra in one of his most acclaimed dramatic performances. Sinatra played Bennett Marco, an American military investigator captured with Shaw in Korea.
The Manchurian Candidate mixes political satire, conspiracy and intrigue, humor, and suspense. The brainwashed soldier turns out to be the center of a plot to kill a presidential nominee. The plot is engineered by the soldier’s mother, a vicious and ambitious woman. She wants to manipulate her husband, Shaw’s stepfather and a United States senator, into becoming president of the United States.
Marco eventually uncovers the psychological plot involving Shaw and tries to convince him that his mind is being controlled by evil forces. At the last moment, instead of assassinating the presidential nominee, Shaw kills his mother and the senator and then takes his own life.
Audiences and critics praised The Manchurian Candidate for its engrossing storytelling and inventive editing and camera work, especially in portraying the nightmarish brainwashing scenes. In addition to Sinatra, the film starred Laurence Harvey as Shaw, Angela Lansbury as his mother, and James Gregory as the senator. Janet Leigh played Marco’s sweetheart. Supporting players included John McGiver, Leslie Parrish, and Henry Silva. The film was adapted from the best-selling 1959 novel by American writer Richard Condon.
A second motion picture version of The Manchurian Candidate was released in 2004. The setting was updated from the Korean War to the Persian Gulf War of 1991. Denzel Washington played Marco, Liev Schreiber played Raymond Shaw, and Meryl Streep played Shaw’s mother. Jonathan Demme was the director.
See also Sinatra, Frank .
