If you come in five minutes after this picture begins, you won't know what it's all about!
When you've seen it all, you'll swear there's never been anything like it!

Starring: Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh, Angela Lansbury, James Gregory, Henry Silva, Leslie Parrish, John McGiver, Khigh Dheigh, James Edwards, Douglas Henderson, Albert Paulsen, Barry Kelley, Lloyd Corrigan, Madame Spivy, Reggie Nalder

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"I told them to build me an assassin. I wanted a killer from a world filled with killers and they chose you because they thought it would bind me closer to them." – Mrs. Iselin

Why watch this? This Frankenheimer thriller was certainly ahead of its time. I genuinely left me disturbed.

Plot Summary: The film opens in the Korean War with the capture of U.S. soldiers by Soviet/Chinese forces. Three days later the men return and are eventually sent back home. For their service, Sergeant Raymond Shaw receives the Medal of Honor, thanks to Captain Ben Marco's recommendation. Marco, and many of the men involved, however, are having horrible nightmares. In Marco's fever dreams he witnesses Shaw murder two fellow soldiers in front of communist military leaders. He convinces his superior office that something happened in Korea akin to brainwashing, and he feels that Shaw may be compromised.

Dad's Preview: This exercise in Cold War paranoia plays both as satire and dead-serious drama. There are several scenes that are shocking, even by today's standards. There is nothing more terrifying to any American than the thought of being mentally manipulated to betray their loved ones. Harvey and Sinatra's performances are excellent, but Angela Lansbury, whose portrays of a powerful woman willing to sacrifice everything for her wanton ambitions, steals every scene and frankly deserved an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

M. C. Productions; United Artists