One of the best and most influential of paranoid thrillers. Was out of circulation for a while after Kennedy's assassination.

The book and 'this' movie are terrific and had far more meaning and appropriateness for the audiences in 1962 than they do for today's internet crowd. The Cold War was very real, very alarming, very moving for Americans. This thing called 'brainwashing' scared the hell out of us. Making the film in black and white was more moving than doing it in color. Perhaps we are now the victims of other programs of 'brainwashing' and are more easily accepting of the a watered down view of the original book and movie?

A great depiction of a horrendous plot. The cast was well chosen and presented their characters to perfection. Angela Lansbury oh gosh let me count the ways! And, Frank Sinatra?
A marvel! Loved the whole opening scene on the stage.

Stupendous in drama; suspense, boy do you earn to hate the villains. This almost resonates the manipulation that builds up on our current politicians or perhaps is the US president????
A team of soldiers mind manipulated by Japanese , Russian and other South Asia officials to do potential damage to the world...or is it to United States....
This is a 1962 oldie film I thought- old dude flick ; SUPRISE your viewing taste this is wonderful popcorn in hand movie.

Four popcorn buckets to view....yeah

Angela Lansbury plays a diabolical evil genius. A must see.

The Manchurian Candidate is a favorite of my dad's and I hadn't seen it until just recently. I was blown away! The movie is well written, thought provoking, and dealt with a lot of (at the time) topical issues that still have relevance in the political climate of today.

This movie is not appropriate for young children. I enjoyed this movie. There is violence; but no sex. It effectively shows how horrendous war and murder are. The story is strong. The characters are developed. It is well acted. The script maintains the suspense throughout the whole film. It shows the importance of wrong and right in life. It promotes have strong moral values and treating each other fairly with justice. It appreciates the freedom of a democracy.

This whole flick is all about Angela Lansbury. Just one of the best acting jobs of a mother from hell, really outshines Sinatra and Leigh, but not her son, Laurence Harvey and her husband who does a good job as the 1950s wacky right wing fringe, championed by Joseph McCarthy.

Still a really valid film, kicks the hell of remake with Denzel.

From about half the comments, I can't tell if your patrons are clueless, or if the library's web devs are crossing wires with your data: Denzel Washington? Meryl Streep? Jonathan Demme? Huh?

Thankfully, when my turn came up in the hold queue, this was the 1962 version, and Axelrod and Frankenheimer do a fantastic, almost Hitchcockian job analyzing the bond between between abusive mothers and their obedient sons. Lansbury makes my ex-smother-in-law look like an ice cream cone by comparison.

The graphic design of the titling is also wonderful, the clipping throughout the nightmare flashback scenes not to be missed, and even though I fell asleep twice while trying to watch the film in its entirety two nights in a row, I still highly recommend it. Excellent film for analyzing race/gender/visual culture promulgated by Hollywood through that era and how Cold War politics eerily connect to our present.

While her performance easily rivals Eva Marie Saint in North by Northwest, it is curious that the writer and the director do such a poor job understanding the psychology of Janet Leigh's character? In real life, boys, running around acting like a rampaging two-year-old will not induce a beautiful, intelligent woman to dump her fianceé and and dedicate her life to dabbing your wounds with her saliva. Not even if you are Frank Sinatra. Maybe especially if.

This film has the most evil villainess in Hollywood history. The Wicked Witch gets more quotes, the Evil Queen has more mirrors, Cruella DeVille has more spots - but no villainess comes close to Angela Lansbury's Mommy-not-so-Dearest. The fact that Sinatra and Janet Leigh are practically footnotes to this film illustrates the power that the two central characters take over. And James Gregory as Senator Iselin does his turn as the poster-child for the Republicans. The remake is what it is - when we want to see the Real Thing, THIS is the version to watch. The new Criterion release's extras are even better.