Watched the original Manchurian Candidate today.

No you didn't miss anything. The quickness of the Sinatra/Leigh romance is just pure Hollywood shorthand. Leigh's role is totally thankless and exists only as a woman for Sinatra's character.

There's so much history to this movie.

Sinatra had it pulled from distribution when Kennedy was assassinated and it wasn't shown anywhere for decades. I've read the novel and the incest angle was very much downplayed in the movie as opposed to the book. The movie fascinates me because I was about six years old in the 60s and remember watching it on TV and I always remembered the scene where Raymond jumps in the lake. I first saw it as an adult in the mid 80s when a local theater ran it. I never get tired of watching it.

They never should have remade it.

North by Northwest is great Hitchcock, and has actually improved with age.

Watch this one next:

[quote]Also loved the mockery they were making of real life Senator Eugene McCarthy.

Really? REALLY?

Eugene McCarthy and Joseph McCarthy were about as far apart as it's possible to be on the political spectrum.

I would R4, but I don’t think it’s on TCM. Where can you stream it?

If you've never liked Miss Lansbury in anything else, you have to admit her performance in TMC is stellar. Her character played the long game to perfection, never realizing the toll it would take on her(having admitted as much in one of the film's pivotal scenes) You can almost see the ice water in her veins.

R5, I think OP just made a mistake—admittedly a pretty big one.

All I remember about the remake was how LOUD it was. Although it was titillating watching Streep toweling off Liev Schreiber and considering incest.

There are two really good movies that explore how soldiers adapted to civilian life after World War II. Both films are excellent and explore the same theme, but in different ways:

1) The Best Years of Our Lives

2) 'Till the End of Time

The first movie got most of the attention and accolades, though the second movie was actually released first. I like them both, but for different reasons.

The bonus in 'Till the End of Time is the impossibly beautiful Guy Madison.

OMG R5...just shoot me now. I’m so embarrassed! This Is worse than that time I ran screaming after Kirstie Alley for her autograph and when I caught her, was rudely told that she was Louie Anderson.

R4 It was just on TCM last week, but I'm sure you can find it streaming on Amazon Prime. They have a lot of the old classics.

Starz has A TON of old movies too.

Watch "Saboteur" an old Hitchcock movie about a plot to blow up the statue of liberty. The last 10 minutes are pure Hitchcock.

Well, she certainly got her's, r7!

You can rent Wings on YouTube for $3.99. Well worth it. Amazing piece of filmmaking, especially considering it's 93 years old.

[quote]Well, she certainly got her's

Oh, dear.

R10 Guy Madison was so beautiful, especially in this movie, it almost hurts to watch him.

r18 Ain't THAT the truth. I posted this in the actual Guy Madison thread: there's one film where he is wearing a Navy winter blue uniform. Sweet Baby Jeebus! I think even a straight man would jump his bones.

Really, r17? I even thought about apostrophe placement beforehand. That isn't correct?

R18 This is my favorite.

R20 "Hers" has no apostrophe.

Lucille Ball was offered the Angela Lansbury role but turned it down because she said her fans wouldn't want her to do it. Lucy was director John Frankenheimer's first choice for the role.

It seems as odd as Doris Day playing Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate, a role which she also turned down.

Actually, I think both ladies should've accepted and surprised everyone with their range.

WAAAAAA

The novel was terrific.

Thank you, r22. Hopefully I'll remember that.

r21 THAT'S it! Thank you so much for posting it. His character in the film is an "Awww... shucks" kinda' guy, which is most appealing. Quite "dreamy," as we used to say.

I wish someone other than Frank Sinatra had played Ben.

R10 - While I never heard of Till the End of Time & will check it out, I do know that The Best Years of Our Live is one of the great movies of the 1940s.

You got your wish, OP!

Sorry--that was for R27, not OP!

I hate when that happens r30.

The scene toward the end in the original Manchurian Candidate where Sgt. Marco tells Shaw that "the links are busted" is slightly out of focus. That's because Sinatra's acting tended to get worse the more takes he had to do. Frankenheimer knew that the first take was probably going to the one he'd have to use even though it wasn't perfect.

The morning that they shot the scene where Marco meets Jenny, Janet Leigh had just had divorce papers served on her by Tony Curtis.

[quote] Janet Leigh had just had divorce papers served on her by Tony Curtis.

Was Tony upset that he found out his daughter was a “he-she”?

R28 "The Best Years of Our Lives" focuses more on the main characters trying to figure out where they fit in in a post-war America. "'Till the End of Time" focuses more on the main characters trying to get people to listen to them and understand how the war affected them.

There is a beautiful scene in 'Till the End of Time" where Guy Madison and Dorothy McGuire see a soldier sitting at a cafe counter going through uncontrollable shaking from PTSD. They go to comfort him, and the poor soldier asks, "Is anybody watching?" And that kind of sums up the theme of the movie - soldiers feeling like they have to hide their trauma so as not to make other people uncomfortable. All the while, they're crumbling inside.

OP - You pretty much can't go wrong with a Hitchcock film. North By Northwest is a great film. Take advantage of the film's leisurely pace to savor the lines.

The recommendation to see Wings is also a great one. I'd add, if you enjoyed Lansbury in Manchurian Candidate that you check out The World of Henry Orient with her and Peter Sellers.

Thanks R35, and everyone. I think I’ll do North By Northwest tomorrow.

Just finished watching North By Northwest. Great movie. Suspenseful and Cary Grant is such a snarky bitch. He’s fantastic. Loved the frequently referenced scenes...the cropduster and Mt. Rushmore, but I especially loved the auction scene.

Tomorrow I plan on watching Citizen Kane. Can’t wait.

R37, the auction scene is my favorite in that film. “I thought you’d never get here!”

Shaw and Dreyfus, I could see be major PITA's, but never heard anything about Schneider.

[quote] Just finished watching North By Northwest. Great movie. Suspenseful and Cary Grant is such a snarky bitch.

My favorite character in the film is his bitchy, yet endearing, mother. She seems like the mother of a gay son.

R23--I think in both cases, we hadn't gotten to a point yet where actors were appreciated for stepping out of their comfort zones.

[quote]Sinatra had it pulled from distribution when Kennedy was assassinated and it wasn't shown anywhere for decades.

Sorry, that is not true.

Lucille Ball would have been an interesting choice. Can you imagine our "Lucy" getting gunned down??

Frankenheimer was a phenomenal director, and I remember his DVD commentary for this movie being really fascinating.