Sunday, February 25, 2018

THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962): Politics and Paranoia



Sometimes on late night television I’ll see the original version of The Manchurian Candidate.  A cold war satire based upon a novel by Richard Condon, the film remains strangely current with what is now going on in Washington, D.C.

The plot of The Manchurian Candidate concerns the brainwashing of a number of American soldiers taken prisoner during the Korean War.  When back on American soil, these veterans continue to remain susceptible to hypnotic suggestions by communist agents.  The most important agent is an American, Mrs. Iselin (Angela Lansbury).  She is the mother of one of the former prisoners, Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey), and the wife of Senator John Iselin (James Gregory).  Senator Iselin is under consideration to be a vice presidential candidate.

Senator Iselin’s political persona is like that of Senator Joseph McCarthy.  He labels any political rival a communist, and he stirs up his followers.  Senator Iselin has no in depth understanding of any political issue, and he lets his wife do all of his thinking.  Senator Iselin is a buffoon who many politicians do not take seriously.  But with his wife, they are an extremely dangerous combination.

Raymond is the problematic one.  He despises his mother and stepfather.  He’s in love with a girl named Jocelyn (Leslie Parrish), the daughter of Senator Thomas Jordan (John McGiver).  Senator Jordan also happens to be a chief critic of Senator Iselin and his wife.  Raymond also has a close acquaintance, Major Bennett Marco (Frank Sinatra), also taken prisoner with Raymond in Korea.  Marco is the one who figures out what Mrs. Iselin is up to in controlling the various subjects – including her son, Raymond.  The brainwashing of Raymond leads to the killing of Senator Jordan and Jocelyn (even though Raymond is engaged to her).  Through brainwashing, Mrs. Iselin has instructed Raymond to assassinate the political enemies of Senator Iselin.   She also instructed him to kill the presidential candidate for which Senator Iselin is on the under ticket (this would make Senator Iselin the head of the ticket).  But because of Marco foiling the plans of Mrs. Iselin, instead of assassinating the presidential candidate Raymond shoots Senator Iselin and Mrs. Iselin at the convention.

Though The Manchurian Candidate is allowable for viewing on television, implications made during the film are more daring than what we get in most movies today.  In Condon’s novel, Mrs. Iselin brainwashes Raymond, her son, to have sex with her.  While the moviemakers did not or could not portray this in the film, there is a clear implication of Mrs. Iselin’s incestuous feelings for her son. 

The Manchurian Candidate is a film likely more popular today than it was when it first arrived in theatres.  And while cold war dramas may once have seemed a thing in the past, we’re again seeing such drama unfolding in Washington politics with the Russian probe.  The Manchurian Candidate also made way for other controversial satires such as Dr. Strangelove, released in 1964.  Yet while today’s critics admire the 126-minute film, not everyone gave it a positive review when it first arrived.  In his 1962 review in the New York Times, Bosley Crowther praised the acting of Angela Lansbury and Laurence Harvey while at the same time saying The Manchurian Candidate “has so little to put across.”  I’d be curious if Crowther ever changed his mind regarding the film.

For any critic to be fair to a movie such as this, they need to understand that no good satire will receive universal accolades when first appearing.  A well-done satire will hurt some feelings.  The satire in films may also be easy for critics to miss who insist on taking the films literally. 

Concerning The Manchurian Candidate, neither writer Richard Condon nor director John Frankenheimer believed that the nation was in immediate danger because of brainwashing by communist agents.  The target of the satire was American citizens and politicians.  And the implication was that the McCarthyite antics of Senator Iselin and his wife were about as welcome as living under a communist dictatorship.  Just as defenders of Joseph McCarthy did and may still label him a true patriot, so would many American citizens label the two characters in this film.  Unfortunately, there are a lot of “true patriots” just like them still around.  If it’s not communism they claim to attack, it’s something else.

Note: When remade in 2004 with the Gulf War as a backdrop instead of the Korean War, the new version of The Manchurian Candidate received some good reviews but still received negative comparisons to the original film.  I guess the same would likely be true of any remake.  Since I have not seen the remake, I will withhold judgment.

 

 © Robert S. Miller 2018