The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
92%RT Audience Score: 90%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
1 win & 12 nominations total
A classic blend of satire and political thriller that was uncomfortably prescient in its own time, The Manchurian Candidate remains distressingly relevant today.
The Manchurian Candidate is a classic cold war thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. With its imaginative filmmaking, powerful performances, and dark parodic humor, this movie is a must-see for anyone who loves a good suspenseful ride. Don’t bother with the toothless 2004 remake, stick with the original and experience the dramatic force of black and white cinema. And who knows, maybe you’ll start to suspect that your own mind has been corrupted by some sinister force…just kidding, or am I?
Production Company(ies)
Participant First Look Media, Anonymous Content
Distributor
MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc., United Artists
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Compass Restaurant – 208 W. 70th Street, New York City, New York, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for violence and some language
Year of Release
1962
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:DTS Dolby Digital SDDS
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:2h 6m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Oct 24, 1962 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 25, 2001
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh, Angela Lansbury, Henry Silva, James Gregory, directed by John Frankenheimer, written by George Axelrod, political thriller, satire, brainwashing, Korean War, communism, patriotism, hero, nightmares, plot, box office, budget, MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc., United Artists, produced by John Frankenheimer, George Axelrod, reviewed by Peter John Dyer, James Powers, Peter Bradshaw, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Variety Staff, Bosley Crowther, Rene Jordan, Brian Eggert, Norman Wilner, Jordan M Smith, Mike Massie, Clyde Gilmour, PG-13, drama, English, 2h 6m, critic reviews, audience score, The Boat, The Conversation, In the Heat of the Night, The Day of the Jackal, Malcolm X, rent/buy from $3.99, Frank Sinatra as Major Bennett Marco, Laurence Harvey as Raymond Shaw, Janet Leigh as Eugenie Rose Chaney, Angela Lansbury as Mrs Iselin, Henry Silva as Chunjin, James Gregory as Senator John Yerkes Iselin
Worldwide gross: $96,105,910
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $151,605,767
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 830
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 16,532,799
US/Canada gross: $65,955,630
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $104,044,110
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 721
US/Canada opening weekend: $20,018,620
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $31,579,101
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 427
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $80,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $126,198,913
Production budget ranking: 290
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $67,958,115
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$42,551,260
ROI to date (est.): -22%
ROI ranking: 1,514
Laurence Harvey – Raymond Shaw
Janet Leigh – Eugenie Rose Chaney
Angela Lansbury – Mrs. Iselin
Henry Silva – Chunjin
James Gregory – Senator John Yerkes Iselin
Director – John Frankenheimer
Producers – John Frankenheimer, George Axelrod
Writer – George Axelrod
Director(s)
John Frankenheimer
Writer(s)
George Axelrod
Producer(s)
John Frankenheimer, George Axelrod
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
1 win & 12 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (61) | Top Critics (13) | Fresh (59) | Rotten (2)
Its unreal characters [are] essentially relevant to ourselves in the Cold War, its extravagant fears for the future rooted logically in the recent past.
March 6, 2020
Peter John Dyer
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
The direction and acting are good, so interest is maintained. Frankeheimer’s handling of the early sequences, in which he attempts and succeeds in creating on film the corruption of the mind, is imaginative filmmaking.
March 1, 2018
James Powers
Hollywood Reporter
TOP CRITIC
Don’t bother with Jonathan Demme’s toothless 2004 remake; the rereleased classic cold war thriller from 1962 by John Frankenheimer packs a harder punch.
April 16, 2010 | Rating: 4/5
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
powerful experience, alternately corrosive with dark parodic humor, suspenseful, moving, and terrifying.
May 7, 2008
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Every once in a rare while a film comes along that works in all departments, with story, production and performance so well blended that the end effect is one of nearly complete satisfaction. Such is The Manchurian Candidate.
May 7, 2008
Variety Staff
Variety
TOP CRITIC
The Manchurian Candidate pops up with a rash supposition that could serve to scare some viewers half to death — that is, if they should be dupes enough to believe it, which we solemnly trust they won’t.
May 20, 2003 | Rating: 2.5/5
Bosley Crowther
New York Times
TOP CRITIC
An outstanding reminder of the dramatic force of black and white cinema. [Full review in Spanish]
June 15, 2022
Rene Jordan
El Nuevo Herald (Miami)
Life has rarely imitated art in more fantastic, catastrophic, and wildly suspicious ways than with The Manchurian Candidate.
February 23, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
John Frankenheimer’s cracked masterpiece…
November 10, 2020
Norman Wilner
NOW Toronto
The Manchurian Candidate rings of relevancy while remaining a supreme example of a well made suspense thriller.
October 8, 2020 | Rating: 4/5
Jordan M. Smith
IONCINEMA.com
One of the most successful adaptations from a novel to the big screen, capably translating the paranoia and suspense Condon imparted to his literary readership.
August 27, 2020 | Rating: 10/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
Wildly implausible though some of its razzle-dazzle incidents may seem in retrospect, this Hollywood mystery melodrama is almost continuously exciting or amusing or both.
October 11, 2019
Clyde Gilmour
Maclean’s Magazine…
Plot
When his army unit was ambushed during the first Gulf War, Sergeant Raymond Shaw saved his fellow soldiers just as his commanding officer, then-Captain Ben Marco, was knocked unconscious. Brokering the incident for political capital, Shaw eventually becomes a vice-presidential nominee, while Marco is haunted by dreams of what happened
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Angela Lansbury’s performance as Mrs. Iselin is considered one of the great movie villains.
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