Fascism On Film - Episode 13 - The Manchurian Candidate episode artwork

EPISODE · May 31, 2026 · 1H 3M

Fascism On Film - Episode 13 - The Manchurian Candidate

from Holmes Movies Podcast

Welcome to the thirteenth episode of our ongoing series: Fascism On Film. Each episode of this series, the Holmes Brothers look and review a film that has to do with fascism. During the episodes, the brothers look and see how the aspects and portrayal of fascism shown in the film relate to current and/or past events.On this Fascism on Film episode, the Holmes Brothers look at and discuss the political thriller The Manchurian Candidate, directed by John Frankenheimer and released in 1962 during the height of The Cuban Missile Crisis. This is the second John Frankenheimer film we have talked about in this series. The other film was Seven Days In May. The Manchurian Candidate stars Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh and Angela Lansbury. Laurence Harvey plays Raymond Shaw, a Korean War veteran who returns to America after receiving the Medal of Honour. During the war, him and his commanding officer Captain Bennett 'Ben' Marco (Sinatra) plus the rest of their platoon are captured by Soviet and Chinese soldiers. They were brainwashed and Shaw has been turned into a sleeper agent as part of a plot to overthrow the US government. Plagued by nightmares, Marco tries to uncover the plot before it is too late. Shaw's mother, Eleanor Iselin (Lansbury), is married to John Iselin. A senator whose career Eleanor is trying to manage.We hope you enjoy this episode and stay tuned for more episodes of this Fascism On Film series.Be sure to check out our Monument Valley Film on our YouTube Channel.Anders's screenwriter work can also be seen at work in the horror, car chase thriller Delivery Run, co-written with & directed by Joey Palmroos. The film has been released digitally and also in select cinemas in the US and the UK. In Finland it was released on Apple TV after finishing its limited cinema run and was the Number 1 film for multiple weeks. You can read a review about it here on the Fangoria website. The film is now available to watch in the other Nordic territories like Sweden, Oslo and of course Denmark. If you live in Denmark, you can watch the movie here on Apple TV by clicking this link.Follow us on our Instagram page. For obvious reasons, we are no longer on Twitter. You won't find us there. Perhaps we will make a BlueSky account, so keep an eye out for that.Follow our Letterboxd page where you can see what we were recommending to each other over the course of the Covid-19 Pandemic.Check out our blog and read Anders's recent review on David Lynch and Mark Frost's iconic TV show Twin Peaks.Also check us out on Letterboxd too!AndersAdam Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the thirteenth episode of our ongoing series: Fascism On Film. Each episode of this series, the Holmes Brothers look and review a film that has to do with fascism. During the episodes, the brothers look and see how the aspects and portrayal of fascism shown in the film relate to current and/or past events.On this Fascism on Film episode, the Holmes Brothers look at and discuss the political thriller The Manchurian Candidate, directed by John Frankenheimer and released in 1962 during the height of The Cuban Missile Crisis. This is the second John Frankenheimer film we have talked about in this series. The other film was Seven Days In May. The Manchurian Candidate stars Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh and Angela Lansbury. Laurence Harvey plays Raymond Shaw, a Korean War veteran who returns to America after receiving the Medal of Honour. During the war, him and his commanding officer Captain Bennett 'Ben' Marco (Sinatra) plus the rest of their platoon are captured by Soviet and Chinese soldiers. They were brainwashed and Shaw has been turned into a sleeper agent as part of a plot to overthrow the US government. Plagued by nightmares, Marco tries to uncover the plot before it is too late. Shaw's mother, Eleanor Iselin (Lansbury), is married to John Iselin. A senator whose career Eleanor is trying to manage.We hope you enjoy this episode and stay tuned for more episodes of this Fascism On Film series.Be sure to check out our Monument Valley Film on our YouTube Channel.Anders's screenwriter work can also be seen at work in the horror, car chase thriller Delivery Run, co-written with & directed by Joey Palmroos. The film has been released digitally and also in select cinemas in the US and the UK. In Finland it was released on Apple TV after finishing its limited cinema run and was the Number 1 film for multiple weeks. You can read a review about it here on the Fangoria website. The film is now available to watch in the other Nordic territories like Sweden, Oslo and of course Denmark. If you live in Denmark, you can watch the movie here on Apple TV by clicking this link.Follow us on our Instagram page. For obvious reasons, we are no longer on Twitter. You won't find us there. Perhaps we will make a BlueSky account, so keep an eye out for that.Follow our Letterboxd page where you can see what we were recommending to each other over the course of the Covid-19 Pandemic.Check out our blog and read Anders's recent review on David Lynch and Mark Frost's iconic TV show Twin Peaks.Also check us out on Letterboxd too!AndersAdam Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Fascism On Film - Episode 13 - The Manchurian Candidate

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This episode was published on May 31, 2026.

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Welcome to the thirteenth episode of our ongoing series: Fascism On Film. Each episode of this series, the Holmes Brothers look and review a film that has to do with fascism. During the episodes, the brothers look and see how the aspects and...

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