The Manchurian Candidate
1962, PG-13, 126 min.
D: John Frankenheimer; with Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Angela Lansbury.

Decades before U.S. intelligence got hip to the notion of “sleeper agents” in our midst, The Manchurian Candidate successfully tried out the idea in this post-Korean War setting. The result is a chilling story about brainwashing, secret political agendas, power-hungry moms, and psychically ravaged veterans – a piece that remains so edgy that it was theatrically re-released in 1987. Angela Lansbury’s frighteningly in-check performance is alone worth the trip.

This article appears in June 21 • 2002.

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Marjorie Baumgarten is a film critic and contributing writer at The Austin Chronicle, where she has worked in many capacities since the paper's founding in 1981. She served as the Chronicle's Film Reviews editor for 25 years.