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
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