“Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever known.” “Manchurian Candidate.”

In honoring the late, great Angelia Lansbury, the multi-talented actor who left us this month, Railroad Square Cinema in Waterville, is offering on Nov. 6 “The Manchurian Candidate,” John Michael Frankenheimer’s 1962 political thriller.

In Frankenheimer’s film, with screenplay by George Axelrod, based on Richard Condon’s novel, Lansbury delivered a frightening acid-dipped mother from the dark, who quietly reached out and stole the picture right out of the pockets of the two top-listed stars, Laurence Harvey, and of all people, Frank Sinatra.

The plot, which rattled many movie goers at the time, came across in ’62 as basically a political fantasy that circles around a returning Korean War hero, Raymond Shaw (Harvey), who is strangely beloved by his entire platoon.

But then we meet Major Bennett Marco (the beloved crooner Frank Sinatra), who has a bad dream that he shares with soldier Allen Melvin (James Edwards ) that involves returning soldiers who were captured from the front lines, and brainwashed before being sent home.

This, as we all know by now (especially since an inferior remake was made to make sure we didn’t miss it), was where our troubled staff sergeant, the “beloved” Raymond Shaw, is dropped in the plot as a hidden landmine assassin.

All this has been programmed by his mother Elenor Shaw Iselin (Angela Lansbury) in a series of card games, to assassinate a presidential candidate, allowing her husband Right Wing hubby Sen. John Yerkes Iselin (James Gregory) to step into history.

Cinema historians tell us that Sinatra has his own casting bad dream. He wanted his friend Lucille Ball to play the mother of Raymond Shaw.

Janet Leigh is involved here in everyone’s plans, as well as Henry Silva, the famous Italian bad guy informant from “Bullet,” who steps in here as a North Korean(?). Silva died at age 96, carrying that miscasting to his grave.

It’s good to see Frankenheimer’s film come back to the big screen, especially with that breathtaking lighting booth scene featuring the rifle shot heard around the world.

Make this one a must-see classic, playing one night only, Nov. 6, at the Railroad Square Cinema, a landmark movie theatre soon to be demolished and brought back to life in new clothes atop the Paul J. Schupf Art Center.

Remember, one night only. Get your tickets how.

J.P. Devine of Waterville is a former stage and screen actor.

Comments are not available on this story.

« Previous

‘Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy’ season 3 kicks off in Calabria

Next »

‘So Help Me Todd’ a weak-unfunny-CBS comedy