When it was first released, the plot of The Manchurian Candidate seemed preposterous, the stuff of near-science fiction. The quagmire of plots and intrigue and conflicting stories surrounding the assassination of JFK in 1963 made the film look less imaginative and more prescient. The film was pulled from release after running only a few weeks, and it sat on the shelf for almost 25 years. It is now touring finer theaters (or at least ones in bigger cities) in a glowing new print, looking as new and timely as when it was first released.

Laurence Harvey plays Raymond Shaw, a returning war hero who receives the Medal of Honor for his bravery in saving most of the members of his platoon during the Korean War. Frank Sinatra is Major Marco, his commanding officer, who grows reverent when discussing Shaw's greatness but harbors different memories of what happened in Korea. These memories surface in nightmares in which he and the rest of the platoon sit in on a botany group, which, in a surrealistic montage, sometimes turn into a group of Russian and Chinese agents being lectured by Dr. Yen-Lo (Khigh Dhiegh), a representative of the Pavlov Institute about brainwashing; Marco is most horrified by his memories of Shaw blandly and obediently killing two of his fellow soldiers on the instructions of the doctor. Marco takes his nightmares to his superiors, who believe him to be suffering from shell shock and send him on vacation. Soon, however, he is leading an investigation of Shaw's strange behavior and possible deadly programming. In addition, he begins a very strange romance with a woman he meets on a train. Eugenia Rose Chaney (Janet Leigh), Rosie to her friends, seems to fall instantly in love with him; it might be one of those funny plot developments in older movies where people want to get married after a couple of dates, but in this film, where everyone is suspicious and sweating the sweat of the guilty, she might be much more.

Shaw, on the other hand, returns to adulation and a great job as a political reporter's assistant. His castrating mother (Angela Lansbury) has her own ideas for what he should do with his life, and she's used to getting her way. She is the most controlling parent I've seen in a long time; she has run Shaw's life up to this point, and her current husband Senator Iselin (a very funny James Gregory) is a tool for her political ambitions and anti-Communist hysteria. She ruined what Shaw thinks was his only chance at real love, a romance with the daughter (Leslie Parrish) of his mother's most bitter rival, card-carrying ACLU member Senator Jordan (John McGiver). Shaw is not a likable guy in general, but his humanity drops completely away when summoned to perform his true duties as an assassin.

The casting of Laurence Harvey as the brainwashed assassin was a stroke of genius. Some actors never convince you in a certain kind of part. For example, I was never able to stomach William Holden as a romantic lead; he always seemed too old, too weathered, to pass as an idealist. Laurence Harvey has only ever been convincing as a sort of zombie, a heartless, cold man whose face would seem to crack if it ventured anything more than a mocking smile. His high cheekbones and angular face never suggest warmth; in this film, there is a flashback scene where he says over and over that he is unlovable. It's true, really, and this film capitalizes on it better than any other. Yen-Lo says that "Not only has his brain been washed, it has been dry cleaned," and you can see it, more so toward the end of the film, when he has been yanked in every direction by the forces competing for him.

Frank Sinatra is also very good as the weathered captain who led the doomed patrol, who has the dubious gift of being able to remember a little too much about what really happened. His nightmares prompt the investigation of Harvey, and as the pieces fall into place, he has the uninviting job of attempting to sort his real memories and allegiances from the implanted ones, attempting to stop a programmed assassin about whom he has fond memories, whether they are real or not. Sinatra's tendency to portray each character as a sort of fatalistic outsider was emphasized in this film by his character's essence as an outsider even to his own memory.

Angela Lansbury, though, takes the cake as the most effective actor among a troupe of memorable roles. The sly, subtle transformation of her character from an opportunistic but seemingly well-meaning nag into one of the most evil non-supernatural characters in film history is a sight to see. The great thing about it is that the final revelation about her real nature came as such a shock because each stage in her development snuck up on you. It was with mouth agape that I learned the extent of her ambitions. Interestingly, she was 37 when the film was made, only three years older than her "son," Lawrence Harvey. She was nominated for (and really deserved) an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, but she lost to Patty Duke in The Miracle Worker.

I had expected a taut thriller; what I hadn't expected was a very funny political satire. I found myself laughing a lot more than I had anticipated. It went beyond the easy targets of the drunk Senator Iselin, who is a transparent stand-in for Senator Joe McCarthy and his list of card-carrying members of the Communist Party—there's a really funny scene where he attempts to pin down the exact number of Communists he's trying to root out. A trip to Central Park for the blank-faced Shaw was another highlight. Political thriller, action movie (there's a great fight scene between Sinatra and Henry Silva, who plays the "Chinese" guide and interpreter who led the platoon into being captured by the Communists, and who convinces Shaw to hire him as an all-around helper), black comedy... this is a great movie, one of the best I have ever seen. The heart-pounding, claustrophobic feeling that permeates the film does not quickly wear off, and it probably won't quickly be forgotten.