The Manchurian Candidate. 1962 United Artists.
Starring: Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh, Angela Lansbury, Henry Silva, James Gregory
Director: John Frankenheimer
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During the Korean War, an American infantry patrol is captured by agents for the Soviet Union, and taken into Manchuria, where the soldiers are brainwashed, and in the case of Staff Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Harvey), implanting a subconscious trigger (a Queen of Diamonds card). After being returned to the front line, and later, after they come back home, the Americans have no idea what they were subjected to, and therefore believe that Shaw saved the lives of their entire platoon during combat. Shaw is awarded the Medal of Honor upon returning to America, which is something he is completely unhappy with.
Major Bennett Marco (Sinatra) starts having the same nightmare: a hypnotized Shaw killing two of his platoon before assembled Soviet, Chinese, and North Korean officers while watching a demonstration of the Communist brainwashing procedure. Wanting to investigate, Marco receives no support from Army Intelligence, until another soldier from the platoon comes forward and says he's been having the same nightmare with the same specific Communists in it. Meanwhile, Shaw's relationship with his parents is explored; he hates them both, especially his overbearing mother (Lansbury), and is unaware that they are actually Communist agents with a plan that could take them all the way to the White House, using their brainwashed son as their unwitting henchman.
The Manchurian Candidate is a gripping political thriller worthy of your time. Recommended.
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