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Summary: lansbury steals show,again
Review: anyone fortunate enough to have seen angela lansbury on the new york stage in the 60's and 70's wont be surprised by her depth and intensity.its great we have this dvd to capture her for all times. everyone else in the film is up to snuff , but she nails it.
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Summary: one of the best films ever made
Review: taut as hell. suspense fans will love this
Rating:
Summary: One of the great films of the sixties
Review: It is great. All that needs to be said.But I would like to quibble with the Canadian reviewer who defends Janet Leigh's role. He or she uses the book to illuminate her role in the movie. That same character in the movie may possess more depth than the character in the movie, but that doesn't negate the fact that in the movie the character is poorly drawn and badly written. I wish that they had put the elements from the book into the movie. But they didn't. And her role (though not her performance--she had to make do with the lines she was given) does mar an otherwise almost perfect film.
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Summary: Janet Leigh's Role
Review: Many reviewers downplay Janet Leigh's role (Rosie) as insignificant or as the low point of the movie. However, if you read the book and watch the movie again, you will see the fact that Rosie was Frank Sinatra's controller, as Harvey's mother is. Remember the sequence when she asks him to memorise many details about her telephone number, address, etc.. And he did. Then he was prompted to attack the Korean servant of Harvey, and then when in jail, he recalls immediately Rosie's address and telephone number as a reference to help him get out of jail. Then when Harvie awakens, he never calls Sinatra with his mother's plan to assassinate the nominee for President. Somehow, Harvie thought that Sinatra was as controlled as he was and did not want to involve in his plan. Do not forget that all members of the platoon were controlled and had roles to play. In conclusion, Janet Leigh's role in fact added to the thriller. Her mumbling about her name and insistence in two separate conversations with Sinatra that she was truthful hides something. One does not expect the director to give away or the subliminal plots.
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Summary: Political ruthlessness at its most frightening
Review: I saw this movie for the first time when it was released in the early '60's, and eagerly awaited its video release. The wait was worth it: it is one of the most finely crafted movies of its type ever made. The cast is uniformly superb, with Angela Lansbury and James Gregory being especially noteworthy. Sadly, perhaps they were too good - I haven't been able to stand either of them in other roles since seeing them here. The black and white photography of this film perfectly conveys its often surreal moodiness. It's hard to imagine either this movie or Frankenheimer's next 60's effort, "Seconds" being made these days: color and special effects would ruin both of them.
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Summary: Superior Drama Combining Espionage With A Trace Of Sci-Fi
Review: The Manchurian Candidate took on a new relevency in recent years with the revelation of Red Chinese efforts to in effect "buy" American elections. Even without such, though, the film continues to shine as a chilling espionage classic with good traces of sci-fi thrown in. The film opens in Korea, and a US Army patrol enters Red territory. They are suddenly jumped by Red Chinese soldiers and flown by helicopter. What happens to the patrol next is retold later in the film in its most celebrated part - the dream sequence. Bennett Marco (Frank Sinatra), Raymond Shaw (Lawrence Harvey), and other members of a Korean War patrol believe they're waiting out a New Jersey storm within a hotel where a flower show featuring dowager old ladies is taking place - but the "flower show" is in reality a hyposis-induced fantasy to test Chinese-Russian brainwashing techniques. To this end, Raymond Shaw is asked to calmly kill two squadmates, Muvoli and Lembeck; the sheer calm in everyone as he does so is slightly humorous (one almost expects Muvoli and Lembeck to say, "Hey, it's a nice day to get killed, so go ahead") but is also chilling. Once the brainwashing is complete, the squad is let go with implanted memories of fighting off a company of Red soldiers to escape. Shaw then goes to work for an influential columnist, but is reactivated years later (watch Harvey's eyes as he gets over the phone a request that he "pass the time by playing a little solitaire") and handed over to his American operator. Raymond Shaw's father-in-law is Senator John Iselin, a deliberately McCarthy-esque politician (more of a caricature than a believeable character) run by a viciously power-mad wife (Angela Landsbury, who pulls off the role of Shaw's mother though she and Harvey were almost the same age). John Iselin's nature is set up in a brilliant scene when he interrupts testimony by the Secretary of Defense to wave around a paper charging 207 persons in the DoD of being members of the Communist Party. The McCarthy-esque anticommunism of the Iselins brilliantly hides the fact that the conspiracy is more real than even the Iselins publically let on, as we see when we find the identity of Shaw's American operator. The conspiracy is finally found out by Ben Marco, but it takes a completely unexpected turn, and Marco finds he cannot save Shaw from destruction. He closes the film by making up a citation to Shaw for the Medal of Honor, this one to communicate how he had truly lived up to it. He then breaks down at the fade. The film's only flaw is the use of Janet Leigh as Marco's girlfriend. She is given almost nothing to do at any time in the film and aggravates her irrelevence with excessive chatter. Nonetheless, a grabber does little justice to how brilliant this film is.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but...
Review: ...I felt a little disappointed when I saw it. Maybe it's because I had heard such glowing reviews about the movie through the years that I built up unreasonably high expectations. But I also wonder if the film built a bigger-than-life mystique because it was unavailable for so long. If we could give half-stars, I'd rate it 3 1/2 out of 5. I much prefer "Seven Days in May" among suspense movies from that era. However, Angela Lansbury is outstanding and Leslie Parish is beautiful. One thing I never bought into was why she fell for Lawrence Harvey's wooden character.
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Summary: My favorite movie of all time!
Review: This movie has so many levels, but I think the key to the film is seldom mentioned; Laurence Harvey's character, performance and the tragedy of that character. If we don't care about Harvey's character, the film loses a great deal of it's power and tragedy. He suceeds in creating a superficially unlikeable character who is brought alive only by true love. The moment of recognition when he realizes his "greatest crime" is excruciating and utterly heartbreaking.
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Summary: Those were the days....
Review: It was an era of great conspiracy and political thrillers -- "Seven Days in May", "Failsafe", and "The Manchurian Candidate" to name a few. I remember seeing this film for the first time years ago in a drive-in movie theater. It was the second film to be playing that night (I can't remember what played with it), and I was all set to use that time to cuddle up with my date and have some fun. That, of course, never happened. This filmed grabbed me like few others (luckily, my date was just as wrapped up as I was). This is a chilling, riveting film of political intrigue, assassination, and ultimate mind control. It was a film that Frank Sinatra banned from public broadcast for over 25 years (due, I think, to the assassination of President Kennedy). Many films have tried to immulate this shocking thriller, but I can't remember any coming close except those listed above and "The Day of the Jackel". (Note: I said "The Day of the Jackel" and not the inferior "The Jackel".). If you've never seen this film, go out immediately and rent it (you'll want to purchase it after you've viewed this film -- it is a classic!!). Between 1 and 10, "The Manchurian Candidate" gets an unabashed 10. It is truly one of a kind, and very, very scary.
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Summary: questions need to be answered
Review: some things dont ring true. can anyone who has given this movie 5 stars explain the leigh character romance? roger ebert suggests that she may be sinatras controller!! also how does sinatras girlfriend turn up at the party in that queen of diamonds outfit?!!! is this pure irony ? ...but dont get me wrong, awonderful movie,especially great performance by harvey. sinatra as ever lacking any flair on screen,but i guess gets the job done.
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