Frank Sinatra Relationships
 In 1962, Sinatra resumed his strong film work in John Frankenheimer's classic thriller The Manchurian Candidate. Here, Sinatra gave one of his finest acting performances, playing the disturbed Major Bennett Marco, whose recurring nightmares about events during the Korean War lead him on a quest to find the meaning behind what's going on in his mind. Widely hailed as a masterpiece, The Manchurian Candidate featured career-best performances from both Laurence Harvey and Angela Lansbury, in a film with dark comic undertones, shades of noir and a cutting satirical edge that made it one of the American Film Institute's 100 Greatest Films. But this was a film that struggled to make it to the screen, its complex plot and themes of cold war paranoia, spies and presidential assassination was strong enough to leave the head of United Artists, Arthur Krim, perplexed about its content and what the public reaction would be. Sinatra, who had a distribution deal with UA, personally approached John F. Kennedy to ask approval of its production. Kennedy, a fan of the novel on which the film was based, eagerly agreed that the film should be made. Sinatra would later comment on A wonderful, wonderful experience of my life... It only happens once in a performer's life. Once.
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