The Manchurian Candidate

November’23 – Nominated By KS

Nominations

Plot Synopsis

“The Manchurian Candidate,” released in 1962, is a political thriller film directed by John Frankenheimer. Based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Richard Condon, the film is a complex tale of brainwashing, political manipulation, and conspiracy, set against the backdrop of the Cold War.

Plot Synopsis:

The story revolves around the principal character, Raymond Shaw (played by Laurence Harvey), a sergeant in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. Shaw and his platoon are captured by Soviet agents and subjected to a sinister form of brainwashing. After their release, Shaw returns to the United States, where he is celebrated as a war hero and awarded the Medal of Honor. However, unbeknownst to everyone, he has been programmed to be an unwitting assassin for a Communist conspiracy.

Major Bennett Marco (played by Frank Sinatra), who served in the same platoon as Shaw, starts having troubling nightmares that suggest that their platoon’s capture and subsequent release were not as straightforward as they seemed. These dreams hint at a brainwashing scheme and trigger Marco’s investigation into what really happened in Korea.

As Marco digs deeper, he discovers a chilling plot orchestrated by Shaw’s mother, Mrs. Eleanor Iselin (played by Angela Lansbury), and her husband, Senator John Iselin (played by James Gregory). Eleanor is a Communist agent, and her husband is a McCarthy-like figure whom she is using as a pawn in her scheme to gain political power. Raymond has been programmed to obey her commands unquestionably, making him a tool for her ambitions.

The climax of the film builds around a political convention where Shaw is programmed to assassinate a presidential candidate, which would facilitate Senator Iselin’s rise to power. Marco, who has uncovered the truth, races against time to stop Shaw and unravel the conspiracy.

Themes:

“The Manchurian Candidate” is renowned for its exploration of themes like brainwashing, political corruption, the power of maternal influence, and the paranoia of the Cold War era. The film also delves into the psychology of its characters, particularly Shaw, who is portrayed as a tragic figure trapped by manipulations beyond his control.

The film’s narrative, with its blend of political intrigue and psychological depth, combined with its stark black-and-white cinematography, creates a tense, atmospheric thriller. It’s often regarded as a classic of the political thriller genre and remains relevant for its commentary on manipulation, power, and the complexities of human behavior in the political arena.

Average Scores

	Enjoyable	Plot	Acting	Camera	Themes	Music	Casting	Wildcard	Total
Average Score	3.75	1.3	1.13	0.76	0.3	0.24	0.3	0.25	8.03
Max Score	5	2	1.5	1	0.5	0.5	0.5	+/- 0.5	11.5
Difference	1.25	0.7	0.38	0.24	0.2	0.26	0.2	0.25	3.48

Individual Scores

Reviewer	Enjoyable	Plot	Acting	Camera	Themes	Music	Casting	Wildcard	Total
MA	5	1.6	1.3	0.8	0.2	0.4	0.2	0.5	10
YA	0	0.5	0.9	0.6	0.35	0.1	0.25	0	2.7
ZA	5	1.5	1.2	0.8	0.3	0.35	0.4	0.15	9.7
KS	5	1.6	1.1	0.85	0.35	0.1	0.35	0.35	9.7