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  • Adaptation Displacement: Most people are more familiar with the movies than with their source material.
  • Alternative Character Interpretation: In the 1962 film, Rosie (the Love Interest) meets Marco on the train and they have a singularly bizarre conversation. (See an in-depth analysis of this scene, with a transcript of the crazy conversation, here.) Later she bails him out of jail and through a shorter but just as weird conversation we learn that she's left her fiancee for him despite only meeting him once. Then she has no impact on the rest of the movie at all other than to fill out some dresses very nicely. The very odd nature of Rosie and Marco's meeting and the general uselessness of her character has led some (including Roger Ebert; see his review here) to theorize that she's a Deep Cover Agent sent by the Chinese to keep an eye on Marco—although this raises the question of why Rosie did nothing to stop Marco as he unraveled the conspiracy around Raymond. Others guess that she's actually an American agent investigating the conspiracy, as Jonathan Demme did with the character in the 2004 remake. In the novel, Rosie's ex-fiancee (the one she returns a ring to so she can be with Marco) happens to work as a government agent, and he's the one who helps Marco investigate Raymond (the army, primarily Col. Milt, are the ones who fulfill this function in the 1962 film).
  • Award Snub: It received two Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress and Editing. It wasn't up for Best Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor or Adapted Screenplay.
  • Big-Lipped Alligator Moment:
    • The conversation on the train is absolutely bizarre and never gets brought up again, and has been the source of fan theories for almost sixty years. See Alternative Character Interpretation above for more details.
    • From the remake, Marco's breakdown on the train is basically a triple play of these.
  • Common Knowledge:
    • Contrary to popular belief, the titular Manchurian Candidate isn't the guy who gets brainwashed to perform an assassinationnote , but rather a political candidate whose career will be assisted by the assassination. Nowadays, most people will refer to a "Manchurian candidate" as being someone who does anything that is asked of them, or as a catch-all term for Manchurian Agents in general.
    • A longstanding urban legend claims that Frank Sinatra bought the rights for the movie in order to bury it, feeling guilt over the movie's supposedly inspiring assassination of John F. Kennedy. This rumor appears to combine several facts: United Artists did block the movie from television screenings for a brief time out of respect for the late President,note  Sinatra writing to ABC to complain about a television screening of his 1954 movie Suddenly, also about an assassination attempt, soon after Kennedy's death,note  and Sinatra obtained the rights in 1972, apparently to recoup money lost to the studio during a salary dispute. Sinatra, his daughters Nancy and Tina, and others denied that there was any attempt to "suppress" the movie, and Sinatra even claimed that he wasn't aware that he owned the rights to Candidate, implying that the deal was his agent's doing. Further, Candidate received several television screenings during the period it was supposedly "suppressed," though it wasn't until the rights reverted to MGM/UA in 1987 that the movie received a theatrical re-release, and afterward became widely available to the public.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: In the book and original film, Senator Iselin took the number of communists in the State Department from a Heinz 57 sauce bottle. One of the inspirations for Eleanor Shaw in the 2004 remake was John Kerry's wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, widow of Senator and Heinz heir John Heinz.
  • Jerkass Woobie: Raymond Shaw, especially in the 1962 film. Quite the Jerkass, but what happens to him is awful.
  • Memetic Mutation: "Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known." It even got referenced in A Very Potter Musical.
    • Why don't you pass the time by playing a little solitaire?
  • Narm:
    • The original film has flashbacks to Raymond and Jocie's prior relationship. The subplot itself is tragic and heartwarming but the montage of Raymond, Jocie, and the Senator laughing so uproariously so thoroughly saccharine.
    • Raymond's outfit at the costume party (a cowboy) makes him look like a child. To a lesser extent, Johnny looks like an idiot in his Lincoln costume.
  • Nightmare Fuel:
  • One-Scene Wonder: The 2004 film has several.
  • Paranoia Fuel: Particularly the 2004 remake.
  • Protagonist Title Fallacy: In the novel and first film, the Manchurian Candidate is Senator John Iselin, a villain who is Mrs. Iselin's husband, confidante, and pawn. The 2004 film puts its own twist on this, referring to a corporation called Manchurian Global.
  • Politically Incorrect Villain: Mrs. John Iselin, big time. However, at least in the 1962 film, much of this is revealed to be a carefully constructed facade. For example, during her visit to Raymond's office, she is seen arrogantly bossing Chunjin around like a typical Karen, callously not even pretending to get his name right ("Chu Chin Chow - or whatever your name is - the steaks are to be broiled for exactly 11 minutes on each side, in a preheated grill, at 400 degrees. No more, no less."). However, in her final monologue to Raymond, she pronounces his name perfectly and makes it clear that they coordinated with each other closely on the assassination plot ("Chunjin will give you a two-piece sniper's rifle that fits nicely into a special bag").
  • Retroactive Recognition: Anthony Mackie and Pablo Schreiber play members of Marco and Shaw's platoon in the remake.
  • So Okay, It's Average: The 2004 film is generally regarded as inferior to the original, but a good film in its own right.
  • Tear Jerker: Despite the saccharine montage earlier, watching as Raymond breaks down after the murder of Jocelyn and her father is heart wrenching. For the first time, Raymond has finally found a way to be happy. Then his mother ends it for him in the most horrific way imaginable.
  • Unintentional Uncanny Valley: The animated video used to brainwash the subjects in the 2004 film is just realistic enough to raise the hackles.
  • Values Dissonance:
    • In the 1962 movie, the yellowface on Chunjin, and especially on archetypal Yellow Peril villain Dr. Yen Lo, would be much less likely to fly today. At one point Ben Marco even compares Yen Lo to Fu Manchu.
    • The story has also been accused of demonizing "masculinized" women and "feminized" men as a threat to the country.
  • Values Resonance: Despite the aforementioned charges of sexism, the story also notably averts Double Standard Rape: Female on Male by acknowledging that women can be sexually predatory (even if Mrs. Iselin's rape of her son is toned down to Incest Subtext in the cinematic adaptations).
  • Vindicated by History: The film was not a commercial success and didn't have the chance to be reevaluated for years since the film was largely unavailable for years after its release (which, contrary to popular belief, had nothing to do with the Kennedy assassination). When the film was re-released in 1988, it was immediately hailed as a masterpiece.


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