Cerrito Classics: The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

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The Manchurian Candidate, the story of a former Korean War POW who is brainwashed by Communists into becoming a political assassin, features a host of remarkable performances, several from actors cast cleverly against type. Frank Sinatra's edgy, aggressive turn as Marco may be the finest dramatic work of his career; Laurence Harvey's chilly onscreen demeanor was rarely used to better advantage than as Raymond Shaw; and Angela Lansbury's performance as the ultimate bad mom is stellar. George Axelrod's screenplay (based on Richard Condon's novel) is by turns compelling, witty, and horrifying in its implications, and John Frankenheimer's direction milks it for all the tension it can muster. Entertaining yet unsettling, the film indicates that things in the '60s were not what they seemed, with a resonance that still echoes uncomfortably in the present.