The Manchurian Candidate (1962) - Quotes

Doctor Yen Lo: The Queen of Diamonds is reminiscent in many ways of Raymond's dearly loved and hated mother and is the second key to clear the mechanism for any other assignment.

Doctor Yen Lo: His brain has not only been washed, as they say, it's been dry-cleaned.

Doctor Yen Lo: Why don't you pass the time by playing a little solitaire?

Doctor Yen Lo: [To Raymond] Do you realize, Comrade, the implications of the weapon that has been placed at your disposal?... A normally-conditioned American, who has been trained to kill and then to have no memory of having killed. Without memory of his deed, he cannot possibly feel guilt. Nobody, of course, has any reason to fear being caught. Having been relieved of those uniquely American symptoms, guilt and fear, he cannot possibly give himself away. Ah, now Raymond will remain an outwardly-normal, productive, sober, and respected member of the community. And I should say, if properly used, entirely police-proof.

Doctor Yen Lo: I am sure you've all heard the old wives tale that no hypnotized subject may be forced to do that which is repellant to his moral nature, whatever that may be. Nonsense, of course.

Doctor Yen Lo: Ah, yes. Yak dung...tastes good. Like a cigarette should.

Doctor Yen Lo: Allow me to introduce our American visitors. I must ask you to forgive their somewhat lackadaisical manners, but I have conditioned them - or brain-washed them, which I understand is the new American word. They believe that they are waiting out a storm in the lobby of a small hotel in New Jersey where a meeting of the ladies garden club is in progress.

Narrator: The war in Korea was over. Captain, now Major Bennett Marco had been reassigned to Army Intelligence in Washington. It was, by and large, a pleasant assignment, except for one thing. Night after night, the Major was plagued by the same re-occurring nightmare.

Narrator: On the afternoon of his arrival in Washington, Raymond Shaw was decorated at the White House by the President of the United States. His citation attested to by his commanding officer, Captain Bennett Marco, and the nine surviving members of his patrol, read in part: Displaying valor above and beyond the call of duty did single-handedly save the lives of nine members of his patrol, capturing an enemy machine gun nest and taking out in the process a full company of enemy infantry. He then proceeded to lead his patrol which had been listed as missing in action for three days back through the enemy lines to safety.

Narrator: This nation jealously guards its highest award for valor - the Congressional Medal of Honor. In the Korean War, with five million, seven hundred and twenty thousand personnel engaged, only seventy-seven men were so honored. One of these seventy-seven men was Staff Sergeant Raymond Shaw. Raymond Shaw was returned from combat and flown directly to Washington to be decorated personally by the President of the United States. This is why his presence, or the presence of any Medal of Honor winner is sufficient to bring generals to their feet saluting.

Major Bennett "Ben" Marco: [Last lines; Reading from U.S. Army book of Medal of Honor citations; [w:Daniel R. Edwards|Edwards; [w:Nelson M. Holderman|Holderman; Puts book down; Thunder claps] Poor Raymond. Poor friendless, friendless Raymond. He was wearing his medal when he died. You should read some of the citations sometime. Just read them. Taken, eight prisoners, killing four enemy in the process while one leg and one arm was shattered and he could only crawl because the other leg had been blown off - ]. Wounded five times, dragged himself across the direct fire of three enemy machine guns to pull two of his wounded men to safety amid sixty-nine dead and two hundred and three casualties - ]. Made to commit acts too unspeakable to be cited here by an enemy who had captured his mind and his soul, he freed himself at last and in the end, heroically and unhesitatingly gave his life to save his country. Raymond Shaw... Hell... Hell. .

Major Bennett "Ben" Marco: [[w:Fu Manchu|Fu Manchu] I can see that Chinese cat standin there smiling like ].

Major Bennett "Ben" Marco: [To Colonel Milt] I tell ya, there's a bomb here, a time bomb that's set waiting to go off.

Major Bennett "Ben" Marco: Remember, Raymond, the wires have been pulled. They can't touch you anymore. You're free.

Major Bennett "Ben" Marco: Raymond Shaw shot and killed his wife early this morning... It wasn't Raymond that really did it. In a way, it was me.

Major Bennett "Ben" Marco: [To Jocelyn Jordan] Raymond is sick, Mrs. Shaw, in a kind of a special way. He doesn't even realize it himself.

Major Bennett "Ben" Marco: [Shouting, to Chunjin, as they fight] What was Raymond doing with his hands?... How did the old ladies turn into Russians?... What were you doing there?

Major Bennett "Ben" Marco: I tell ya, there's something phony going on. There's something phony about me, about Raymond Shaw, about the whole Medal of Honor business... I said: Raymond Shaw is the kindest, warmest, bravest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life, and even now I feel that way - this minute. And yet, somewhere in the back of my mind, something tells me it's not true. It's just not true. It isn't as if Raymond's hard to like. He's impossible to like. In fact, he's probably one of the most repulsive human beings I've ever known in my whole - all of my life.

Major Bennett "Ben" Marco: [Hypnotized] I will make my report on the patrol... I will recommend urgently that Raymond Shaw be posted to the Medal of Honor. He saved our lives and took out a complete company of Chinese infantry.

Major Bennett "Ben" Marco: [Repeated line] Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life.

Major Bennett "Ben" Marco: Intelligence officer. Stupidity officer is more like it. Pentagon wants to open a Stupidity Division, they know who they can get to lead it.

Staff Sergeant Raymond Shaw: [To Ben, after killing his mother and Senator Iselin] You couldn't have stopped them, the army couldn't have stopped them. So I had to.

Staff Sergeant Raymond Shaw: [Of Sen. Iselin] I'm gonna beat that vile, slandering, son-of-a-numbskull to a bloody pulp.

Staff Sergeant Raymond Shaw: Have you noticed that the human race is divided into two distinct, irreconciliable groups? Those who walk into rooms and automatically turn television sets on, and those who walk into rooms and automatically turn them off. You know, the problem is, they usually marry each other which naturally causes a great deal of...

Staff Sergeant Raymond Shaw: [[w:Gaucho|Gaucho; [w:Groucho Marx|Marx] We flew to Maryland last night. We got married. We just got back...There we were, the Queen of Diamonds and me looking like, I don't know, like ] ]... Ben, I just made a joke. Not a very good joke, I admit, but a joke. Ben, in all the years that you've known me, have you ever heard me make a joke? Well, I just made one. Gaucho Marx! Me! Ha! Big day! Mark that down in your book. Raymond Shaw got married and he made a joke. Gaucho Marx.

Staff Sergeant Raymond Shaw: [Of his mother, Mrs. Iselin] She won, of course. She always does. I could never beat her. I still can't... I'm not loveable. But I loved her. I did love her. I do love her.

Staff Sergeant Raymond Shaw: You just cannot believe, Ben, how loveable the whole damn thing was. All summer long, we were together. I was loveable, Jocie was loveable, the Senator was loveable, the days were loveable, the nights were loveable, and everybody was loveable - except, of course, my mother.

Staff Sergeant Raymond Shaw: My mother, Ben, is a terrible woman. A terrible, terrible woman... You know, Ben, it's a terrible thing to hate your mother. But I didn't always hate her. When I was a child, I only kind of disliked her. But after what she did to Jocie and me, that's when I began to hate her... Jocie Jordan - Senator Jordan's daughter... Thomas Jordan's daughter and Johnny Iselin's step-son... Years later, I realized, Ben, that I am not very loveable... Some people are loveable and some people are not loveable. I am not loveable. Oh, but I was very loveable with Jocie. Ben, you can't believe how loveable I was.

Staff Sergeant Raymond Shaw: Twelve days of Christmas! One day of Christmas is loathsome enough!

Staff Sergeant Raymond Shaw: You know how much the guys in the outfit hated me. Well, not as much as I hated them, of course.