The Manchurian Candidate

A new version of John Frankenheimer’s classic 1962 psychological thriller, The Manchurian Candidate, opens next week, with Denzel Washington replacing Frank Sinatra in the lead role, cast now as a soldier back home from Desert Storm. Liev Schreiber takes over for Laurence Harvey as a fellow soldier, a hero in fact, and more. His mother, his very controlling mother, is played now by Meryl Streep, where Angela Lansbury once stood.

Fine; and let’s hope the film is as good as it should be, but first we should look back to the original. Happily, this will be easy to do — a new Special Edition DVD went on sale Tuesday and, better yet, the original version of The Manchurian Candidate opens this Friday at Key Cinemas for an absolutely no longer than one week run.

Go see it. Really. This kind of movie deserves to be seen on the big screen and besides, how cool will you be when the remake opens and you can reel off info about the original?

Let me give you some of the info. The story, based on the great Richard Condon book, opens with a group of U.S. soldiers, captured while fighting in Korea, gets taken to Manchuria, where they are brainwashed by Chinese communists. A demonstration of their programmed “skills” remains one of the creepiest and most mesmerizing scenes I have ever witnessed.

Back in the USA, the men have no memory of what was taken out, or put in, their psyches. But when Capt. Bennett Marco (Sinatra) experiences nightmares, he starts an investigation that quickly leads to some very dark places.

Meanwhile, fellow soldier Raymond Shaw (Harvey) stays with his mother (Lansbury) and step-father (James Gregory), a powerful politician, as they prepare for the coming elections.

Things to know: The film is number 67 on the American Film Institute’s list of America’s 100 Greatest Movies.

Sinatra wanted Lucille Ball to play the role given to Lansbury.

The film was withdrawn from the market following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It was not re-released for many years.

United Artists, the company that produced the film, was skittish about making the movie, viewing it as vaguely anti-American. It took a phone call from President Kennedy — made at Sinatra’s request — to finally convince Arthur Krim, then head of United Artists and also the national finance chairman of the Democratic Party, to agree to start production.

So there you go. Fun facts and the gist of the story. Before you see the new The Manchurian Candidate, see the original The Manchurian Candidate.

It’s a hell of a movie.