#202 The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

I have heard of this movie, but I never got around to watching it. The basic idea is that the Chinese/Soviets brainwash a bunch of American troops from Korea. I thought the story was pretty good, but I also thought the devices they used to move the story along were kind of cheesy (I don't want to explain them to avoid any spoilers). The movie was shocking, and I enjoy a movie that can surprise me. Something +Nancy Blackman might like is that one of the characters mentions that Columbus is a great football town. I am not sure how I feel about Frank Sinatra acting, but I don't really know his face, so I guess it didn't annoy me.
Throughout the movie, Abe Lincoln is everywhere and (pictures, statues, and a person dressed up as him) of course this movie is about assassination.
This movie happened one year before JFK's assassination ('63) and, in general, before the other high profile assassinations like MLK ('68), Malcolm X ('65), and Robert Kennedy ('68). I wonder if this movie had any affect on people believing there is a conspiracy behind JFK's assassination? This movie seems to inspire other movies (besides the remake, of course), but Conspiracy Theory definitely comes to mind. Conspiracy Theory even uses Catcher in the Rye, which was found on Jack Ruby. Anyways, I say all of this to point out that the most controversial assassination in American history happened one year after a movie about mind control, conspiracy and assassination. Weird.
This is a good movie to check out. It is probably one I need to rewatch to fully understand it.

"Why don't you pass the time by playing a little solitaire?" -Yen Lo

Have you seen this movie? What movie should I watch next?

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