The Manchurian Candidate

Flicks with The Film Snob

Aug 03 2026 | 00:03:34

00:00 / 00:03:34

Show Notes

A Cold War thriller tells of an assassin hypnotized by the Chinese to kill a presidential candidate. A special brand of American movie emerged during the Cold War that I call the “paranoid thriller.” It started in the ‘50s as Hollywood’s way of exploiting the “Red Scare,” the fear and hatred of communism at home and abroad. As political events became more chaotic and disturbing in the ‘60s and ‘70s, these films began to reflect popular suspicion of U.S. government covert actions and conspiracies. Produced right on the cusp of these two phases was an amazing suspense film, from 1962: The…

Other Episodes

Episode 0

November 01, 2020 • 00:03:08

Mouchette

A day in the life of an abused young girl, presented by director Robert Bresson as the epitome of unjust human suffering. In the...

Episode 0

September 08, 2025 • 00:03:26

Sing Sing

A drama about the experiences of inmates participating in a theater program at the titular prison, featuring actual veterans of the program. Sing Sing,...

Episode 0

November 17, 2022 • 00:03:25

The Souvenir: Part II

Joanna Hogg continues her semi-autobiographical portrait of the artist, a young woman filmmaker in 1980s England exploring grief. The Souvenir: Part II is the...