Botschafter der Angst (1962)

Botschafter der Angst: Directed by John Frankenheimer. With Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh, Angela Lansbury. A former prisoner of war is brainwashed as an unwitting assassin for an international Communist conspiracy.

“One of the big surprises about u0026quot;The Manchurian Candidateu0026quot; is Angela Lansbury in a villainous role. Between u0026quot;Murder, She Wroteu0026quot; and her work for Disney, you canu0026#39;t help but entertain a kindly image of the actor.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe other surprise is how potent this still is, even at the 55 year mark. Maybe thatu0026#39;s because I lobe u0026#39;70s movies of the genre, but even still, this is a highly effective political thriller. And thatu0026#39;s due in large part to Frankenheimeru0026#39;s skilled direction and a script full of inventive deceit. It even has plenty of time to skewer McCarthyism. Almost everything seen here has been done since, but youu0026#39;re still left unprepared for that one last plot twist. Well-executed, to say the least.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe cast is star-studded, the storyu0026#39;s engrossing and thereu0026#39;s almost a playful sense of humor to it.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eGreat movie.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e8/10”