Laurence Harvey's performance was fine by me. His accent was not an issue. He was a movie actor, and young though he was, a seasoned one; and he got the job done. If he had tried for an American accent I doubt that it would have worked anyway, as he was known to be British (albeit South African born), and he was already a well known international player, if not a superstar. It was okay for the time, and that's what works for me. I found him credible in The Alamo, from a couple of years earlier, in which he also played an American, also an unlikeable fellow who yet did the right thing in the end, though not conflicted about it.
The Manchurian Candidate was so well made, first rate down the line, some offbeat casting (Sinatra, Henry Silva) didn't hurt it much. It was all part of the film's scheme, with unreality in play, people not being what they seem, not meaning what they say, much of the time anyway; director John Frankenheimer aced it with his expert direction. That some things about this movie are "off', don't feel quite credible, works for me in making it come alive. Some scenes and characters might have been better written, notably James Gregory's Joe McCarthy based senator, too obviously a jerk, and also in too obviously channeling McCarthy in some of his phrasing. John McGiver's senator was a bit too good to be true, and also a composite of in his case many real life political figures of the time (1962) the film was made. All criticism aside, the film is an American classic.
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