Dear Readers, Emily of The Vintage Cameo and Judy of the Movie Classics Blog are hosting the Sinatra Centennial Blogathon from December 10-13th. Being a lifelong Sinatra fan, I had to participate! For this event, I chose The Manchurian Candidate.
The Manchurian Candidate features Sinatra’s finest acting performance as Major Bennett Marco.
During the Korean War, Marco’s platoon was captured and rescued thanks to the heroic efforts of Captain Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey). Shaw, now a decorated war hero and the step-son of Senator John Iselin (James Gregory).
John Iselin is a politician, a Joseph McCarthy-type, with a list of 207, 104, or 275 known communists serving in Washington. Iselin has no clue how many communists there are, he is a puppet under his wife’s control communist collaborator, and Raymond’s mother (Angela Lansbury)!
Freud would have a field-day with this mother-son relationship!
Okay, I know this is a Frank Sinatra themed event, but let us discuss Angela Lansbury aka the sweet, charming Mrs. Potts from Beauty and the Beast and the lovely Jessica Fletcher from Murder, She Wrote.
Oh for goodness sakes people she played Mrs. Santa Claus!
Angela Lansbury, behind the eyes of sweetness, lurks the heart of evil! Now we know why Santa wears red!
As Shaw’s mother, Lansbury twists her trademark motherly character into a monstrous, evil, controlling, psychotic, nightmarish, doting mother.
Meanwhile, Major Marco is having peculiar dreams, a harmless hydrangea lecture becomes a brainwashing demonstration in Communist China.
Is it the ladies garden club?
Or
Red China!
Marco believes the Chinese government captured and re-programmed his platoon. Shaw may have murdered two fellow officers while under hypnosis. When asked about Shaw, Marco responds with Zombie-like passion:
The entire platoon says the same thing about Shaw, word-for-word, but Shaw is not warm, kind, or wonderful. In fact, he is moody, sullen, and petulant!
Raymond Shaw, so warm, a little charmer, killing them with kindness!
However with no evidence to support his claims, Marco is re-assigned to “less-strenuous” duties, the public relations department. The military eventually puts Marco on disability, due to his mental condition.
But Marco is not alone, others have similar dreams!
The same garden club with new members.
What the military believes is combat-fatigue turns into an intriguing thriller, as Marco attempts to unravel an attempt to assassinate the President of the United States!
I love Frank Sinatra, but he usually plays himself. I never considered him a great actor, until I saw The Manchurian Candidate! In The Manchurian Candidate, Sinatra is a different character Marco broken fragile, unhinged. While there are many great moments in this film, the exchange between Marco and Rosie (Janet Leigh) is particularly striking, because Sinatra is always so suave with the ladies (think his role in Ocean’s 11), yet here is he is awkward, the conversation seems like a chore.
The Manchurian Candidate also bears the dubious distinction of featuring one of the earliest martial arts sequences on film. Click the link to watch a fight between Marco and Chunjin (played by Henry Silva).
You read that correctly, we can call Old Blue Eyes “The Original Karate Kid”.
Ring-a-ding-ding! Wax-On, Wax-Off! That’s Frank San-atra to you, baby!
According to Frank’s daughter Nancy (These Boots Are Made for Walking) Sinatra, Frank broke his finger when he punched Silva through the door.
But he kept going, ’cause he’s hard-core!
This is not from The Manchurian Candidate it is either a scene from The Powerpuff Girls or CCTV footage of me after running, not quite sure which.
Be sure to visit Emily of The Vintage Cameo and Judy of the Movie Classics Blog and check out the full Sinatra Centennial Blogathon from December 10-13th.
Ciao for now, dearies!
Summer
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Terrific summary of an unforgettable movie!
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Thanks, so much! There are some fantastic articles on this one out there, I regretted choosing such a well-covered title, but I adore Frank’s performance in this film.
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Manchurian Candidate is one of those movies that I usually don’t like — in other words, a dark, depressing war drama. But this film just blew me away. The acting, the directing, the screenplay, all of it is incredible. My jaw kept dropping scene after scene. A true classic for sure. Great write-up!
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Thank you so much! It is a very well made film 😉
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This is such a great movie. Frank Sinatra is convincing in this role, and he needs to be. The plot seems a little far-fetched, but his performance makes it seem plausible. (As does the rest of the cast, especially the fab Angela Lansbury.)
Great choice for the blogathon. Time to see this one again!
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It really holds up well, paranoia thrillers are always fascinating and Frank really does an excellent job here!
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One of my favourite movies of the 1960s. An exciting and thought-provoking thriller. Frank could be a deceptively fine actor. He’s one of those lads who doesn’t let you see the work – just like with his singing.
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Oh, he was a fantastic singer, you are so right there, any song he sang he completely owned and made it his own! 😉
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This is a fabulous film. I must admit I found the plot hard to follow and really need to see it again, but Sinatra is excellent, as is Angela Lansbury! I will need to watch this soon and then return to read your great review all over again. Thanks so much for your contribution to the blogathon.
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Hi Judy, thanks so much! It is a fantastic film, great performances all around, I hope you enjoy it! It is by far my favorite if his non-musical films, and Angela Lansbury is amazing, she is wonderful In everything. apparently she was only 37 when she made this film making her only three years older than Laurence Harvey, but she plays an excellent mother! Thanks for hosting such a cool event!
Summer
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Another movie going to my 2016 watchlist! Seriously, I’ve heard so many good things about the movie, but never stopped to watch it. Now that I know it has a hardcore Sinatra karate fight, I’ve got to see The Manchurian Candidate! LOL
Thanks for the kind comment!
Kisses!
Le
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I hope you catch it, it is really a ton of fun!
-Summer
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