The Manchurian Candidate (1962 film)/YMMV


 * Alternative Character Interpretation: Janet Leigh's character of Rosie (the Love Interest) meets Marco on the train and they have a singularly bizarre conversation. Later she bails him out of jail and through a shorter but just as weird conversation we learn that she's left her fiancee for him despite only meeting him once. Then she has no impact on the rest of the movie at all other than to fill out some dresses very nicely. The very odd nature of Rosie and Marco's meeting and the general uselessness of her character have led some, including Roger Ebert, to theorize that she's a Chinese agent sent to keep an eye on Marco. Others guess that she's actually an American agent investigating the conspiracy.
 * Word of God (John Frankenheimer) said on the DVD commentary that the scene in question came straight from the book and he had no idea what that bizarre conversation meant.
 * High Octane Nightmare Fuel: Angela Lansbury's performance.
 * Jerkass Woobie: Raymond Shaw. Quite the Jerkass, but what happens to him is awful.
 * Magnificent Bastard: Eleanor Iselin. People who know Angela Lansbury from Murder, She Wrote would be surprised to watch this movie.


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