Criterion Collection Edition #803
The name John Frankenheimer became forever synonymous with heart-in-the-throat filmmaking when this quintessential sixties political thriller was released. Set in the early fifties, this razor-sharp adaptation of the novel by Richard Condon concerns the decorated U.S. Army sergeant Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey), who as a prisoner during the Korean War is brainwashed into becoming a sleeper assassin in a Communist conspiracy, and a fellow POW (Frank Sinatra) who slowly uncovers the sinister plot. In an unforgettable performance, Angela Lansbury plays Raymond’s villainous mother, the controlling wife of a witch-hunting anti-Communist senator with his eyes on the White House. The rare film that takes aim at the frenzy of the McCarthy era while also being suffused with its Cold War paranoia, THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE remains potent, shocking American moviemaking.
Directed by John Frankenheimer • 1962 • United States
Starring Frank Sinatra, Angela Lansbury, Laurence Harvey
The name John Frankenheimer became forever synonymous with heart-in-the-throat filmmaking when this quintessential sixties political thriller was released. Set in the early fifties, ...
This audio commentary, recorded in 1997, features director John Frankenheimer.
This interview with actor Angela Lansbury was conducted in New York in November 2015.
This interview with filmmaker Errol Morris was conducted in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in November 2015.
For the following conversation, recorded on the occasion of the 1988 rerelease of THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, director John Frankenheimer, screenwriter George Axelrod, and actor Frank Sinatra were reunited for the first time since the making of the film to discuss its production.
The following interview with historian and author Susan Carruthers was conducted in New York in November 2015.
