One of the "most poundingly suspenseful political thrillers ever made," (People Magazine) and "one of the best and brightest of modern American films" (Roger Ebert). Ask Major Bennett Marco (Sinatra) and he'll say that Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey) is a hero worthy of the Medal of Honor. But despite what he says, Marco suspects otherwise. A bizarre, recurring nightmare gives him the uneasy feeling that Shaw is something far less heroic and far more insidious. Is it possible that Shaw is a traitor? Can Marco convince the Army of his suspicions? How does Shaw's powermad mother (Lansbury) figure into this all? So many questions. So little precious time...
Directed by
John Frankenheimer
Written by
Richard Condon (novel); George Axelrod (screenplay); John Frankenheimer (uncredited).
Starring
Frank Sinatra (Maj. Bennett Marco); Laurence Harvey (Raymond Shaw); Janet Leigh (Eugenie Rose Chaney); Angela Lansbury (Mrs. Iselin); Henry Silva (Chunjin); James Gregory (Sen. John Yerkes Iselin); Leslie Parrish (Jocelyn Jordan); John McGiver (Sen. Thomas Jordan); Khigh Dhiegh (Dr. Yen Lo); James Edwards (Cpl. Allen Melvin); Douglas Henderson (Col. Milt); Albert Paulsen (Zilkov); Barry Kelley (Secretary of Defense); Lloyd Corrigan (Holborn Gaines); Madame Spivy (Female Berezovo). Please contact SFC to add other cast members and characters.
Important: the following essays and comments are authored by Soul Food Cinema readers. Whilst the Editor prays for the spiritual integrity of all content of this site, it should be noted that these represent personal opinions and carry no official endorsement. If you consider any content to be a misrepresentation of Catholic teaching, please contact SFC. May God bless you and enlighten you in your reading.
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Readers' Comments and Opinions
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One of the best thrillers ever...
Mark Banks (United Kingdom)
Opinion: Recommended
There are only a handful of thrillers that have made it into my Top-100, so when one does make it in you can be pretty confident there's something special about it. The Manchurian Candidate stood out for me as being a cut above most of the films I have watched in my time and really kept me routing for Major Bennett Marco right to the final scenes. Before seeing the Vatican's 45 "important films" list, I had the tendency to dismiss anything that wasn't primarily about relationships, God or morals. But seeing their three-way classification, one of which category was "Art", opened my mind up to the fact that God really does manifest himself not only through morals and messages, but through good art and fine entertainment also... of which The Manchurian Candidate is a primary example. Credit goes to Frank Sinatra for his fine leading role.
