The Manchurian Candidate

CinemaSerf 11/19/2024 4:08:02PM 8.4

An outstandingly (and Golden Globe winning) vile performance from Angela Lansbury - well and truly putting her silly old maid roles to one side, makes a magnificent contribution to one of the most thought-provoking thrillers ever to come out of 1960s Hollywood. Frank Sinatra and Laurence Harvey return from the Korean War - the latter to great acclaim, winning the Medal of Honour. Both suffer from terrible nightmares and when Sinatra discovers that other survivors from their unit are also suffering; and that somehow Harvey is the fulcrum of it all we descend into an abyss of manipulation, brain "dry-cleaning", mind-control and red-bashing that is really quite unsettling - and entirely plausible. Janet Leigh, James Gregory and a truly malevolent Khigh Dhiegh as "Dr. Yen Lo" all gel well to create a masterpiece of tension and threat with the tightly shot direction; subtle use of light and music and a truly gripping dialogue contributing to a truly menacing adaptation of Richard Condon's visionary novel. A must see...