Basic Film Information

• Release Date: October 24, 1962
• Director: John Frankenheimer
• Writers: George Axelrod, Richard Condon
• Actors: Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh, Angela Lansbury, Henry Silva

Synopsis

The Manchurian Candidate is a film about a former prisoner of war who is brainwashed by the Soviet Union and returned to the United States in order to act as an assassain for the Communist Party. The film follows the Major Bennett Marco as he attempts to prevent his former commander, Raymond Shaw, from murdering innocent people for the corrupt party. The two continually struggle with their states of mind due to the brainwashing and, through it, the film displays Cold War espionage and the issues of mind control.

Contemporary Reviews

• Renowned critic for The New York Times, Bosley Crowther criticized The Manchurian Candidate within his review and discusses the outrageous and horrifying plot within the film.

• Rotten Tomatoes gave a review of 98% and an audience score of 90% on the film.

Background and Interesting Facts

• Frank Sinatra broke the little finger of his right hand during the fight scene with Henry Silva.
• The film was so politically senstive that its release was banned until the fall of the Societ Union in 1993 in former “Iron Curtain” countries, such as Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Romania.
• Nearly every scene of Sinatra’s in the film are first-takes.
• Joe Adams, as the Army psychiatrist, was the first black actor cast in a pasrt that was not specified for a black actor.

Analysis

When viewing the 1962 version of The Manchurian Candidate, one may notice the various substantial issues addressed within the film. One of the main social aspects that was prominent within the film was the portrayal of women for its time. Although some of the female roles were still typical for the era, one of the three major women in the film played a particularly strong character throughout the movie. Each woman within The Manchurian Candidate, although their character may not have been as prominent as the leading female role, showed a sense of strength and independence within the film that was unexpected by the viewers.

The first prominent female character introduced to the viewers is Mrs. Eleanor Iselin, mother of Sergeant Raymond Shaw. At the beginning of the film, she is shown in a typical feminine role as she bustles about to get a photo taken of her son, a Medal of Honor recipient. During the first viewing of the movie, it seemed as though she would play a minor role because of her introductory scene, but, upon further examination, one can sense her commanding tone and presence in her actions during her first scene. The first strong characteristic of Mrs. Iselin that is noticeable is her control over her husband, a prominent U.S. Senator. He seeks out her knowledge during all of the controversy in the film, especially when she forced him to declare a certain number of members within the Department of Defense were communists. Throughout the film, it is revealed that she orchestrates all of the chaos and uses her son for her personal gain. Mrs. Iselin, as a communist herself, was an ally of the Soviets and supported the use of hypnosis on captured American soldiers in order to create assassins. As her last order to her son, she implicates Shaw’s hypnosis to force him to kill the Democrat’s presidential nominee so that her husband, as the vice-presidential nominee, will be defaulted as the new leader of the party. Although she would not technically be the figurehead or the one leading the nation, in The Manchurian Candidate, Iselin tells her son: “when I take power they will be pulled down and ground into dirt for what they did to you,” implying that she would be the one in power.

Though one could argue that the writers used Mrs. Iselin to demonize communism and femininity, that is not the case in The Manchurian Candidate. Mrs. Iselin does not line up with the typical 1960’s view of femininity and seems to have more “masculine” traits such as a commanding tone, assertion, confidence, and strong beliefs. The time period and setting does suppress Mrs. Iselin so that she may not become the leader of the Communist Party, but awarding her the typical masculine traits des nit seem demonizing. Instead, viewers can see a woman so steadfast in her beliefs that she is willing to sacrifice her own son and manipulate those around her to achieve her goals. Though that is not admirable, the film uses Mrs. Iselin’s actions to show the corruption in government and how opposing ideas can threaten the United States.

The other two main female roles were slightly less prominent, but still interesting to the viewers. Ms. Eugenie Rose Cheyney, Major Marco’s love interest within the film, plays a slightly more traditional role, while maintaining her individuality. When she first meets Marco, Cheyney is stern and blatantly honest, openly displaying her independence. Although she retains her stern qualities throughout the film, she begins to become shaped into more of a traditional female role later in the film as she grows closer to Marco. She gives up her life with her fiancé for Major Marco and pretty much drops everything that she has to support Marco through his hard times. Another female role that was notable was that of Jocelyn Jordan. Jordan is significantly less prominent in the film because of her weak, yet traditional characteristics. She blindly trusts Mrs. Iselin and Sergeant Shaw and marries Shaw despite major noticeable character flaws. Although other characters attempt to reveal his issues to her, Jordan defends her husband and claims that she can fix him, resulting in her death. Her devotion is admirable and can be viewed as a strong characteristic for female characters of the time.

The camera shots also reflect differently with the women in The Manchurian Candidate than in other films from the time. With Mrs. Iselin and Ms. Cheyney, the viewers can see quite a few close-ups of their characters. Not only is that in itself odd, considering the main focus on the film is the male characters particularly Major Marco and Sergeant Shaw, but their faces within the close-ups were not seen as vulnerable. The women had stern looks upon their faces in the close-ups, with their jaws locked in a set of independence. It seemed as if the filmmakers, Axelrod and Frankenheimer, wanted to portray these two females as strong and powerful figures within the film, regardless of their supporting roles.

Although not all of the main female roles displayed independent and strong characteristics, it was interesting to the viewers how powerful Mrs. Iselin was in the film. She controlled the other characters secretly like a puppet master. Mrs. Iselin used her son and her husband to become more powerful in a setting where women were not accepted into prominent roles. Ms. Cheyney and Ms. Jordan may also be seen as strong in their own ways by their assertion and devotion throughout the film. The Manchurian Candidate displayed a sense of strength and independence within its female characters that was surprising for its viewers because of the traditional roles expected for a film of its age.

Bibliography

Crowther, Bosley. The New York Times. 25 October 1962. Web Article. 19 November 2016.

IMDb. The Manchurian Candidate (1962). 2016. Web Article. 19 November 2016.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. The Manchurian Candidate Poster. Advertisement. M.C. Productions. 1962. Web.

Rotten Tomatoes – Fandango. The Manchurian Candidate (1962). 2016. Web Article. 19 November 2016.