Rightly considered one of cinema’s greatest paranoid thrillers, John Frankenheimer’s 1962 classic The Manchurian Candidate is a film that remains hugely engaging – and surprisingly topical. Adapted from Richard Condon’s novel of the same name, its famous title lingers in the zeitgeist, still used to speculate on puppet-mastering foreign powers and their political influence.
The film opens with the Medal of Honor being awarded to Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey) for his service in the Korean war. Shaw returns home to a rousing reception, but isn’t a real hero: the Sergeant and the rest of his platoon were brainwashed into believing he saved their lives during combat. Installed as a sleeper agent, a hypnotised Shaw can do the dirty work of communists, activated by the sight of a playing card: the queen of diamonds.
