"The Manchurian Candidate" (1962 version) with Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey and Angela Lansbury

This film works on so many different levels that it's hard to hit them all, but I'll try. First off, it's a "cold war" film, so that grabs me right away. The real life intrique was never very far off from the plots of some of these films. "Manchurian Candidate", like "The Spy Who Came In From the Cold," captures that realism.

In another vein, if you think that Frank Sinatra couldn't act, get ready to eat those words. This is one of his finest performances, no singing, no casino robberies, no Rat Pack. This may be his best dramatic screen performance since "The Man With the Golden Arm."

The story centers around a guy named Raymond, the son of a wealthy political family with high ambitions. Raymonds service in Korea is a part of their image. During the war he receives the Medal of Honor for leading his patrol back from behind enemy lines.

Things are not what they seem however, and so the film is filled with twists and turns that eventually lead to the one inescapable ending. Tremendous performances by Laurence Harvey as Raymond and Angela Lansbury as his self serving mother, along with flawless acting by Frank Sinatra, have long made this a favorite of mine. And wait- there is more to this story....

I saw the film at the Century Avalon on Kings Highway in Brooklyn when I was 8 years old. I didn't understand it. By the 1980's, when VCR had emerged, I was looking for old films to watch and couldn't find it anywhere! It was an Oscar Nominated film directed by John Frankenheimer, yet it was nowhere to be found. A mystery. That is, until one particular night in the car listening to AM radio.

Larry King, a freind of Frank Sinatra's, was on the air and asked him about the film, stating that it was one of his best and he couldn't find a copy. Genuinely flustered and without an answer, Mr. Sinatra promised to look into it.

About 2 weeks later he contacted Larry King by phone and explained that the film was yanked from theaters shortly before the Kennedy assassination in Dallas. It was bought by his business people and was in his vault at some studio. He was going to pull it, restore it and re-release it. And, lucky for us, he did.

Now, look at the film from this perspective. The mind control program revealed in this film, along with the military's use of LSD and other drugs to create "agents" is now widely known and accepted to be true. Put this together with Sinatra's "Rat Pack" and their connections to Sam Giancanna, long suspected to be the architect of the shooting in Dallas, and you have one hell of a story. Remember that these 3 guys shared the same women(Judith Campbell in particular) as well as other financial and political pursuits.

Still not convinced? Try this one. Frank Sinatra was an ardent admirer of JFK. When his plans to host the President in Palm Springs in 1962 fell through, the mob was ready to "whack" him for it. That is actually on tape. So, about 6 months before the events in Dallas, the film is locked away. When the assassination happened Sinatra was beside himself, to the point of being a risk. Now remember that within 2 weeks of the assassination, his son, Frank, Jr. was kidnapped by 2 low level guys out of Florida. Coincidence? I'm not so sure.

Watch this film with an open mind and leave any pre-conceived notions at the door.(Except for Angela Lansbury, who looks exactly the same now as she did then.)

A very tightly woven tale of political intrique, this film will not fail to make you think. And that alone makes it a pleasure to watch.

Cold War Duo- "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold" by John LeCarre

I am a big fan of the Cold war. It had all the necessary elements for a good spy story on a daily basis. And they were true.


Growing up during the some of the hottest times in the Cold War was kind of exciting. The Bay of Pigs, Cuban Missile Crisis, the Berlin Wall. All of these real life dramas made interesting fodder for the writers of spy novels and the stories they spun. "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold" is one of my all time favorites.

John LeCarre takes a man, a broken and tired man, Alec Leamus, and turns him into a political anti-hero. Here is a man who has been engaged in espionage against the Russians for a decade or more, who knows all the ropes, and yet finds himself caught in a web he inadvertently helps to create.
The book and the movie are almost identical. It is helpful to have read the book first, but not necessary. Alec Leamus is asked by MI5 to leave the agency on the pretext of not having gained promotion due to his drinking. Richard Burton plays the part in the movie and his own public struggles with alcoholism make this role very believable.
As he skids down the path of his affliction he takes a job as a research librarian, filing books in a private collection. There he meets a woman named Liz, played in the movie by Claire Bloom, with whom he forms an instant connection. Two lonely people trapped in their own gray and dreary lives. The film is in black and white. It is an accurate depiction of England at that time, still reeling from the ravages of World War Two. Rationing didn't formally end until 1965. Both the novel and the movie capture this aspect with perfection.
When Alec defects to the Russian side for a price, at the direction of his superiors, a chain of events ensues that brings sharply into focus both the differences and the similarities of what we call Freedom and the other side calls Communism. Both sides have agendas. Both sides resort to unthinkable means in order to obtain their respective goals.
Caught in a struggle between a principled Communist Party member who tries Leamus for espionage, and a ruthless ex-Nazi who may be a British double agent, Leamus finds himself in the grips of a plot that will either reinforce his beliefs or tear them apart, revealing them as the other side of the same coin.
The book is riveting, as is the movie. Richard Burton gives one of his finest performances as the troubled spy. And Claire Bloom is exceptional as a woman torn between her beliefs and the reality with which she finds herself confronted.
Stark and intense writing give the book the feel of the gray and colorless world of Communism in Eastern Europe at the time. Stark and intense direction by Martin Pitt transfer these elements to the screen with perfection.

The Attack On The Liberty- The Untold Story by James Scott

When I was 12 years old I remember a US Navy ship being bombed by air and torpedoed off the coast of Egypt. The result was 34 dead and 171 wounded, some crippled for life. The events took place in the larger context of the Arab-Israeli "Six Day War" during which Israel took the Golan Heights and the West Bank - in short, all those places that were eventually settled and complicate the Mid East situation to this day.

I also remember that the story just faded away- and after about a week or so- it simply vanished. Years later while serving in the Navy I ran across several people that had been serving in the Eastern Med at the time of this incident. This only fueled my curiosity.

Written painstakingly by the son of the Liberty's engineering Officer, Ensign John Scott, the book accesses many of the recently declassified documents to paint a picture of a deliberate and vicious attack that defies explanation even to this day.

The Liberty was beyond the 12 mile limit and in International waters when repeatedly "buzzed" by Israeli jets. The ship remained on station, clearly marked and flying the large 7 foot by 13 foot "holiday" sized American flag from it's main mast amidships.

Several hours later the jets returned and napalmed the ship without warning. Then to make matters worse Israeli torpedo boats raced to the scene and torpedoed the ship.

It was only the actions of a well trained crew that saved the vessel from sinking- which is exactly what the Israeli government had in mind.

The speculation never ends- was the attack in error as claimed by the Israeli's? If so, then why did they send torpedo boats to sink her after realizing the mistake? And why were the liferafts straffed Nazi style and made unusable? Why did the Israelis' block the radio frequencies that would have alerted other ships to come to the Liberty's aid? And finally, when the ship would not sink, why did the Israeli Navy offer to lend assistance?

The possibilities are many fold. Mistaken identity, although improbable, would have meant that the Israeli's would have sent out boats to assist and not continue the attack. The liferafts being straffed causes one to believe that they wanted no survivors. The jamming of the frequencies was done to keep the ship isolated- possibly to blame the Egyptians and bring the US into the war on the side of Israel.

The lame and belated attempt to assist the crippled vessel may have been an effort to gain control over the sensitive crypto gear that the Liberty was using to "eavesdrop" on the war. These are the scenarios that I have always held forth concerning this attack.

At home in Washington, President Johnson , with his hands full as the Vietnam War rages out of his control, seems more concerned with angering an ally in the Middle East than in pressing for reparations.

President Johnson, by his inaction in holding Israel accountable for the attack, set the stage for the capture by North Korea of the USS Pueblo a mere 8 months later. At one point the Joint Chiefs of Staff actually consider sinking our own ship to hide the evidence of the attack- maybe to even blame the Russians. Added to this is the Presidents concern that taking Israel to task would cost him much needed support from American Jewish organizations in the 1968 elections. Ironically, Johnson would never run in that race.

Some things will never be clear concerning these events- but this is a remarkable read. It is not a condemnation of Israel. It is just another of the many stories from the Cold War- a time when being in the Service was like playing chess with real pieces.