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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)

AwardRecipientResult
Best Supporting ActressAngela LansburyNominated
Best Film EditingFerris WebsterNominated
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The Manchurian Candidate 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. ... 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

The Manchurian Candidate (1962) – with Frank Sinatra and Laurence Harvey

By Greg Orypeck on Mar 10, 2016 From Classic Film Freak

Share This! An idea once unbelievable. . . . Then unthinkable. . . . Now all too possible. . . .  A chilling classic. In the recent war in Iraq and the current one in Afghanistan, the greatest threat and concern has been and is—torture.  Although torture had also been a concern in the Kore... Read full article

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The Manchurian Candidate Quotes:

Raymond Shaw: Senator Iselen is not my father. Repeat: he is not my father. If you learn nothing else on your visit to this country, memorize that fact.
Raymond Shaw: It's a terrible thing to hate your mother. But I didn't always hate her. When I was a child, I only kind of disliked her.
Mrs. Iselin: Oh, Raymond, what is the matter with you? You look as if your head were going to come to a point in the next thirteen seconds.
Mrs. Iselin: I know you will never entirely comprehend this, Raymond, but you must believe I did not know it would be you. I served them. I fought for them. I'm on the point of winning for them the greatest foothold they would ever have in this country. And they paid me back by taking your soul away from you. I told them to build me an assassin. I wanted a killer from a world filled with killers and they chose you because they thought it would bind me closer to them.
[Puts her hands on Raymond's face]
Mrs. Iselin: But now, we have come almost to the end. One last step. And then when I take power, they will be pulled down and ground into dirt for what they did to you. And what they did in so contemptuously underestimating me.
[Kisses Raymond on the forehead, then his cheek, then on his lips]
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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The Manchurian Candidate Facts
In joke: During the prologue set in 1952, one of the bar girls reads an old movie magazine with a cover shot of Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, who plays the female lead in this film.
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.
On the copy of the New York Post announcing the slaying of Senator Jordan and his daughter, a small headline at the top reads: "VIOLENT HURRICANE SWEEPS MIDWEST; 20 DEAD, HUNDREDS HOMELESS"
It took a full week to film the opening dream sequence. Director John Frankenheimer rushed a rough edit of the sequence to Frank Sinatra, then decided to keep the cut in the final movie unchanged.
Frank Sinatra wanted Lucille Ball for the role of Mrs. Iselin which was played by Angela Lansbury.
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