Factual error: In the scene when the Senator and Raymond's mother are in the hotel room, the newspaper headline (upside down in the lower right) states that he will address the Senate that day. However, in the next scene when he proclaims there are 57 Communists (based on the Heinz ketchup), there is an uproar in the chamber and he yells "Point of order, Mr. Speaker." The Speaker (of the House) is not in the Senate, he is the head of the House of Representatives.
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Ending / spoiler
Directed by: John Frankenheimer
Starring: Angela Lansbury, Frank Sinatra, Janet Leigh, Laurence Harvey
Raymond Shaw, the Medal of honor decorated Platoon captain, was actually brainwashed, and is forced to obey the first command he is ordered every time he watches the Queen Of Diamonds card. It was the order of his mother, Mrs. Iselin (Angela Lansbury), who wishes to make America a communist country by making her husband the president and by killing everyone in their path, using Raymond. Major Marco (Frank Sinatra) finds out about it and uses the queen of Diamonds on Raymond so that he will find out what is Iselin's Plan. Their plan, as told by Raymond, is to kill the opposite candidate while speaking certain words on his speech. Marco talks Raymond out of it by commanding him with 52 Queens of Diamond, and by that releasing him from his brainwash. However, when Mrs. Iselin orders Raymond to kill the candidate, he obeys! While aiming the sniper rifle on the candidates, Marco feels that something is wrong when he suddenly sees Raymond's sniper rifle out of the window, but is unable to reach him before the shots are fired - On Mrs. Iselin and her husband. Raymond explains the Marco that he wasn't brainwashed and this was the only way to stop His mother's Evil plan. Raymond turns the gun on himself and commits suicide. Marco and his wife mourn Raymond's death after the event.
Big Evil
More mistakes in The Manchurian Candidate
Chunjin: I need job.
Raymond Shaw: Job?
Chunjin: Yes Sir, Mr. Shaw.
Raymond Shaw: But my dear fellow, we don't need interpreters here. We all speak the same language.
Trivia: Angela Lansbury plays Laurence Harvey's mother in this film, but in reality she is only three years older than him.
Question: A part of this film's critical acclaim was caused by an unfocused shot, which the critics called brilliant - even though the lack of focus was an accident. What is that shot and where exactly in the movie does it appear?
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.
Answer: The shot in question occurs when Sinatra's character, Marco, holds up a deck full of queens while trying to deprogram Raymond. On the DVD commentary track, the director, Frankenheimer, acknowleges that the scene was out of focus, and that though Sinatra supplied several other takes of the scene, the other takes weren't nearly as good, so he went with the flawed one. Later, Frankenheimer was praised by critics for the unfocused shot showing Raymond's disturbed perceptions.