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Summary: One of the greatest movie's ever made. Bravo.
Review: This has to be the best movie I have seen. This is a classic. I wish it was not withheld from sale so many years.
Rating: 
Summary: Good film, but hardly a 5-star.
Review: A good film, with fine acting. But not a great (5-star) film because: a) Janet Leigh character's fall for Marco not credible or convincing; b) The film is too pertinent to the times to resonate as strongly beyond that era. This makes it less a universal theme than, say, Citizen Kane.
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Summary: One of the best thrillers ever made. It never gets old.
Review: The plot is well, known, but the acting is especially remarkable. Lansbury, Gregory, Sinatra and Harvey were perfectly cast and each performed with brilliant subtlety. This is often credited as the best film for Lansbury, who cited this as her "Last cruel mother role." This is filmaking at its best.
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Summary: Life Imitates Art
Review: For different reasons some movies just keep you coming back again and again. Last night I rewatched Manchurin Candiate, a superbly directed thriller, because on March 12 1999 I read in the paper how Dr.Sidney Gottlieb had past away. Dr. Gottlieb is billed as the man who brought LSD to the CIA. Starting in the early 1950's, the time setting of the Manchurian Cadidate, and concluding in the early 1970's, he dosed many unsuspecting Americans with LSD in an effort to control human consciousness, or as acted out in the movie, brain washing. When Dr. Gottlieb retired he concluded his experiments where useless, the CIA then gave him a medal and distroyed all his records. But one does not have to go very far into a history book to see the comparisions that thread the Manchurian Candidate's brain washing to kill a political figure, and 1960's political carnage of two Kennedy's and a King. When you see the threads you can see why this flim was pulled from the distribution the day after the Kennedy assassination,(11/23/63) and not redistributed to the public until 1987, near twenty five years later. Does life imitate art? Or does art mirror life?
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Summary: STARK and HIGHLY CHARGED DRAMATIC
Review: Techno-paranoid thriller was pulled 23NOV63 as it was strangely reminiscent of yesterdays killing event. Sinatra is Intelligence officer assigned to follow Honor Medalist who may or may not be brainwashed (regressed). Frank eventually learns heroe's mom is Commie agent, and it's off to the races! Assassin IS successful, but the victim is not who you'd think! Glorious!
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Summary: Compelling! Did this kind of thing really occur?
Review: After seeing this film, you can't help but wonder if mind control has ever been used in this manner. Where did Richard Condon get his idea for the book? Was it based on real events? This is one of the few films I have ever purchased. I only purchase films that I could watch time and time again. It's a film you not only want others to see, but you want to sit down and watch it with them.
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Summary: Greatest American Movie
Review: I saw "Manchurian Candidate" in the theater the day it opened, and I loved its satire, wit, and reaffirmation of the power of love. Unfortunately I was asked to leave for laughing out loud and distressing the other viewers. That's what makes this a great movie--its politically incisive, outrageously funny, and thoroughly romantic, all at once. Everyone's usual focus on Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury overlooks the brilliant performances of Janet Leigh and Laurence Harvey. Harvey is the linchpin that makes the incredible plot become believable, and Leigh makes the Sinatra character accessible. For her work in this movie, she will always be the ultimate Queen of Hearts.
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Summary: A side of Angela Landsbury that you have never seen!
Review: Ahead of it's time 60's suspense thriller. If you're looking for a good thriller without all the modern effects/gimmicks, this is a must see. Frank Sinatra and Angela Landsbury really draw you into this story, and don't let you go until the conclusion.
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Summary: "How about playing a little solitaire?"
Review: The Manchurian Candidate has obtained cult status among movie buffs.Made in the height of the Cold War in the early '60's, The Machurian Candidate fits perfectly in that time-frame. There are heavy overtones of McCarthyism, as portrayed by James Gregory as a slimey Senator who has the presidency as a goal. However, the most ambitous of the characters is Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Iselin, who is the true driving force behind the man. It is interesting that Laurence Harvey, who plays Angela Lansbury's son, Raymond Shaw, was in reality only 3 years younger than she was. Frank Sinatra gives a good performance as Colonel Ben Marco, who surmises that something is "wrong" after Shaw wins the Medal of Honor, and Sinatra tells everyone how "wonderful" a person Shaw is, although he deep down knows that to be false. Marco finds out he shares the same dream/nightmare as another soldier in his squad which was captured in Korea. Although the brainwashing technique portrayed in the film is pretty far-fetched, the presentation is stunning and one of the most memorable scenes in film. Other scenes have heavy symbolizm as well. What does it all mean? You have to watch the film to find out. The reasonably-priced DVD contains both full screen and wide screen versions of the Black-and-white movie, a good commentary by director Frankenheimer, a fair interview with Sinatra and producers Frankenheimer and Axlerod, trivia and production notes and a trailer. The upcoming special edition has 2 more interviews. Truly a film that should not be missed. Frankenheimer's next film, "Seven Days in May", might even be better.
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Summary: Political Paranoid Thriller Extraordinaire!
Review: "The Manchurian Candidate" is a brilliantly-conceived indictment of the American political process wrapped around a riveting, heartbreaking thriller. Career-defining performances and a surprisingly witty, unsettling screenplay make this a film for the ages. Sgt. Raymond Shaw (played with palpable disdain by Laurence Harvey) is thoroughly disliked by his entire unit in Korea . . . that is, until his unit gets nabbed by the North Koreans and subjected to eerie brainwashing techniques. We don't see the brainwashing, but we see the results in a famous scene where the unit sits politely in chairs in front of what they believe is a sewing circle but in actuality is a who's who of evil communist stereotypes (director John Frankenheimer masterfully cuts between real and imagined audiences, generating laughs as well as chills). A couple of horrifying murders are committed (poor, poor Eddie Lembeck!), foreshadowing the planned carnage to come. Back in the States, Sgt. Shaw, winner of the Medal of Honor, refuses to be the political pawn of his mother (Angela Lansbury), who has remarried the fop Senator Iselin (James Gregory, in a masterful performance of boorish incompetence). Mrs. Iselin, bearing more than the usual motherly devotion to her son, is shocked to hear that Raymond wants nothing to do wtih Senator Iselin's career. Unfortunately for Raymond, he has no idea how much control Mother has over him. Other members of Shaw's unit, who are robotically convinced that Sgt. Shaw is the best guy in the world, are having nightmares (these nightmares are how we see some of the brainwashing -- very effective). One, Major Ben Marco (Frank Sinatra, never better on film), is convinced that something is up, because he knows that he never liked Shaw, but that his brain is telling him otherwise. Initially dismissed as a fatigued loon by his superiors, he doggedly pursues his instincts and tracks down Shaw. Eventually, they become friends, and Marco learns that not everything is alright with Raymond after Raymond mindlessly walks into a lake in the middle of winter. Raymond, too, has been brainwashed. In a powerful indictment of the power of political images, the queen in a deck of cards turns Raymond into a robot . . . a robot designed to bring the American political process to its knees. Senator Iselin, gaining popularity by making baseless charges of Communists in the State Department (in a wonderful scene, Mrs. Iselin deduces a way for Senator Iselin to remember the number of Communists using a certain steak sauce bottle). The movie constantly unsettles the viewer. Ben Marco falls for a very unusual woman (Janet Leigh), whose unusual statements keep you wondering if she is a plant by the Communists to keep tabs on Ben. Repeated images of Abraham Lincoln dominate the picture (and you remember how he ended his presidency). And most heartbreaking, Raymond is forced to test the bounds of his brainwashing control against the people he loves most of all. The (near) absolute and total destruction of Raymond Shaw and all that he holds dear (by his mother, no less) is the emotional core of the film. Shot in captivating black and white, "The Manchurian Candidate" is a thriller for the ages. Pulling few punches, "Candidate" will leave the audience breathless as the tension builds during the final scene at the political convention. It will also leave you aghast . . . this is the gold standard for political thrillers!
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