History Literature / TheManchurianCandidate

* NoPartyGiven: In the 2004 remake the political party responsible for all this is never named, even during a strategy session involving the electoral map.

** In the 2004 version, it's implied that they are Democrats, what with the mention of being denied the White House another four years and their strength being with the northeast, west, blacks, and college students. It nevertheless comes off as a little forced when even after [[spoiler:Sen. Jordan's assassination]] newsreaders only ever refer to "his party."

* YellowPeril: Dr. Yen Lo, the sinister brainwasher in the 1962 film. Dr. Lo was played by Khigh Dhiegh (born Kenneth Dickerson), a American actor of North African ancestry, who specialized in playing sinister Asian villains, most notably Wo Fat on ''Series/HawaiiFiveO''.

Years later Marco, now an intelligence officer, starts suffering from a recurring nightmare about Shaw murdering two of his comrades, all observed by Chinese and Russian officers. When Marco learns that another soldier from the platoon also has been suffering the same nightmare, he sets to uncovering the mystery - and makes a terrifying discovery. Shaw is being used as a sleeper agent for the Communists, programmed as a guiltless assassin, subconsciously activated with a particular trigger - the Queen of Diamonds in a deck of cards. Thus, he is activated, kills the target, and immediately forgets. Shaw's controller is his own mother, who is working with the Communists in order to quietly overthrow the United States government with her Manchurian Candidate. His programming is eventually broken by Marco using a deck of cards entirely composed of the Queen of Diamonds.

* UnfriendlyFire: Featured prominently. [[spoiler:The soldiers of Shaw's and Marco's platoon that were killed but didn't died in the initial ambush were slaughtered by their own brainwashed brothers to test that such a thing was possible once they were activated. And then there's also Shaw killing his mother (Marco killing Shaw and Mrs. Iselin in the remake).]]

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Iselin is an obvious parody of Joe [=McCarthy=].

*** What makes the 1962 version a bit more confusing is that, while the Iselins are most likely Republicans (what with all the busts of Abraham Lincoln, Sen. Iselin being based on Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy, and all the anti-Communist rhetoric), Senator Jordan, a political enemy of the Iselins who they once accused of being a Communist publicly, is in the SAME PARTY if his influence at the Convention is anything to go by. Does that make the Iselins conservative Democrats, even though they're northerners and it's the late fifties/early sixties? Or does it make Jordan a liberal New Deal Republican a'la Fiorello La Guardia or Thomas E. Dewey?

* ComplexityAddiction: The EvilPlan involves capturing one particular American soldier alive (along with his uni)t from all the soldiers fighting in Korea, brainwashing them into believing his heroism so Shaw will get the Medal of Honor, arranging for additional agents in the United States to keep an eye on them all... for a plot that doesn't require any of this. If Shaw is captured he just looks like a war veteran who went insane, which defeats the entire purpose to bring about an anti-communist fervor that will sweep Iselin to power. They just need an accurate shooter and a [[WhoShotJFK patsy with known communist sympathies to be the fall guy...umm...]]

* ComplexityAddiction: The evil communist plan involves capturing one particular American soldier alive along with his unit from all the soldiers fighting in Korea, brainwashing them into believing his heroism so Shaw will get the Medal of Honor, arranging for additional agents in the United States to keep an eye on them all, for a plot that doesn't require any of this. If Shaw is captured, he just looks like a war veteran who went insane, which defeats the entire plot to bring about an anti-communist fervor that will sweep Iselin to power. They just need an accurate shooter and a [[WhoShotJFK patsy with known communist sympathies to be the fall guy...umm...]]

* ComplexityAddiction: The evil communist plan involves capturing one particular American soldier alive along with his unit, brainwashing all of them so Shaw will get the Medal of Honor, then sending him back to the United States with additional agents to keep on eye on him for an assassination.

* EvilInc: 2004 film.

* HeroicSacrifice: In the remake, [[spoiler: Shaw and Marco are both able to partially overcome their programing and Shaw gets Marco to shoot him and his mother to stop the plot.]]
** [[spoiler: Also an example of TakingYouWithMe.]]

* MercyKill: [[spoiler: In the book, Marco orders a brainwashed Raymond to shoot his mother and stepfather, then shoot himself. He remarks, "No electric chair for a Medal of Honor man."]]
* AMillionIsAStatistic: A subtle example, on the newspaper that shows the headline of [[spoiler:Thomas Jordan and his daughter's murder]] in the 1962 film version, there is a subheader of twenty people being killed in a hurricane. Twenty normal people dead is less important than [[spoiler: one politician and his daughter]].

* TheMole

** In the 2004 version, it's implied that they are Democrats, what with the mention of being denied the White House another four years and their strength being with the northeast, west, blacks, and college students. It nevertheless comes off as a little forced when even after [[spoiler: Sen. Jordan's assassination]] newsreaders only ever refer to "his party."

* RealAwardFictionalCharacter: Sgt. Raymond Prentiss Shaw is awarded the Medal of Honor for rescuing his platoon. Perhaps a case of ItWasHisSled, but [[spoiler: the action never happened, they were kidnapped and brainwashed, and Captain Marco was brainwashed into nominating him for the Medal.]]

* UnfriendlyFire: Featured prominently.

* YouKeepUsingThatWord: Raymond's mother Mrs. Iselin always calls anyone who disagrees with her political views, or even her overall views in general, a Communist. [[spoiler: Which makes her role as Raymond's controller more ironic.]]

* AbsurdlyYouthfulMother: Eleanor was only 17 when she gave birth to Raymond.

* CameraTricks: The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds rule of thirds]] is dramatically averted in the first shot of Janet Leigh. She is presented right in the middle of the frame. It's a bit startling.

** BiggerBad: In the original, it's the [[DirtyCommunists Communists]], but in the 2004 film it's [[MegaCorp Manchurian Global]].

The 2004 remake, directed by Creator/JonathanDemme, updates the setting to [[UsefulNotes/TheGulfWar Operation Desert Storm]], makes the bad guys an evil corporation instead of communists, and stars Creator/DenzelWashington as Ben Marco and Creator/LievSchrieber as Raymond Shaw. Creator/MerylStreep plays Shaw's mother, Senator Eleanor Prentiss Shaw. It also adds a twist.

The 2004 remake, directed by Creator/JonathanDemme, updates the setting to [[UsefulNotes/TheGulfWar Operation Desert Storm]], makes the bad guys an evil corporation instead of communists, and stars DenzelWashington as Ben Marco and Liev Schrieber as Raymond Shaw. Creator/MerylStreep plays Shaw's mother, Senator Eleanor Prentiss Shaw. It also adds a twist.

* YouKeepUsingThatWord: Raymond's Mother Mrs Iselin always calls anyone that disagrees with her political views, or even her overall views in general, a communist. [[spoiler: Which makes her role as Raymond's controller more ironic.]]

* SatelliteLoveInterest: In the novel and 1962 film Rosie pops up out of nowhere, helps calm Marco down at a point where the nightmares are really getting to Marco, and then does absolutely nothing else except [[MsFanservice fill out some dresses nicely]] in the movie. [[note]]All of which lends itself to AlternativeCharacterInterpretation; see the YMMV page for details[[/note]]

The 2004 remake updates the setting to [[UsefulNotes/TheGulfWar Operation Desert Storm]], makes the bad guys an evil corporation instead of communists, and stars DenzelWashington as Ben Marco and Liev Schrieber as Raymond Shaw. Creator/MerylStreep plays Shaw's mother, Senator Eleanor Prentiss Shaw. It also adds a twist.

* AffablyEvil: Yen Lo, a Chinese scientist. A consummate gentleman and scholar, it seems in any other genre he'd play the role of a wise old mentor. In this story, he creates sleeper assassins.
* AmbiguouslyBrown: Bennett Marco is of partially Spanish extraction and is described as looking like an Aztec crossed with an Eskimo with "copper colored" skin and straight black hair with an "aboriginal look". He's played by Frank Sinatra in the 1962 film and Denzel Washington in the 2004 film.

-->'''Dr. Yen Lo''': "His brain has not only been washed, as they say... It has been dry cleaned."

* FireForgedFriends: Neither Marco nor Shaw liked one another at first. It's one of the few things that tips Marco off that something isn't right when he mentions the phrase "Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I have ever known in my life." However eventually they do become good friends as aside from Jocie, Marco is the only person that he's ever expressed a side opposite of his usual {{Jerkass}} persona. However judging by the brainwashing scene, it was implied that from the start, Raymond did respect Marco and said he hated him the least.

* HenpeckedHusband / ParentingTheHusband: The Manchurian Candidate in the novel is Mrs. Iselin's husband, John. She fusses over him day and night...after all, world domination is at stake!

** Somewhat averted in the remake. WordOfGod says they intended to portray the brainwashed state as a state of ''heightened awareness'' rather than a zombielike trance. How easily this comes across is debateable, though.

** In the 2004 version, it's implied that they are Democrats, what with the mention of being denied the White House another four years and their strength being with the northeast, west, blacks, and college students. It nevertheless comes off as a little forced when even after [[spoiler: Sen. Jordan's assassination]] newsreaders only ever refer to "his party".

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: When Raymond wakes up in the hospital after a hit-and-run accident [[spoiler:not really]] he finds his mother at his bedside, clearly having been crying. He's startled by how disheveled she looks, and while he accuses her of putting on an act it's implied that this is her mask genuinely slipping as a result of [[spoiler:realizing that's she's to be the operator for her own son as an assassin.]]

** RealitySubtext: In an introduction to a later edition of the novel, [[WordOfGod Richard Condon]] said he remembered reading an editorial which read something to the effect of, "If Joe [=McCarthy=] were a paid Soviet agent, he could not do more to harm this country than he's doing now," and started to wonder, "What if he really *was*?"

During TheKoreanWar, Captain Bennett Marco and Sergeant Raymond Shaw were part of a platoon that was captured in 1952. They are taken to Manchuria, and are brainwashed to believe that Sgt. Shaw saved their lives in combat for which the Army awards him the Medal of Honor.

!!This novel and its adaptations contain examples of:

* BrainwashedAndCrazy

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:The Iselins]] are the only bad guys in the original who receive any kind of LaserGuidedKarma at all. The DirtyCommunists in charge of Raymond's brainwashing, notably Yen-Lo, all get off scott-free.

* UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar: The opening scene of both the novel and the 1962 film.

''Literature/TheManchurianCandidate'' is a 1959 ConspiracyThriller novel by Richard Condon, about the son of a prominent political family who has been brainwashed into being an unwitting assassin for the Communist Party. The novel was adapted for the screen in 1962 and again in 2004.