The Man Who Might Have Been: An Inquiry Into the Life and Death of Herbert Norman

The Man Who Might Have Been: An Inquiry Into the Life and Death of Herbert Norman (1999)

19 Jan 1999 1h 38m
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On April 4, 1957, Herbert Norman, the Canadian ambassador to Egypt, leapt to his death from a Cairo rooftop. During his remarkable life, Norman helped set the course of post-war Japan and played a key role during the Suez crisis. But with all of his talents and achievements, there was something haunting Herbert Norman and following him to every corner of the globe: the accusation that he was a Soviet spy. This documentary takes us back to a time when the Cold War was heating up and when the mere accusation of communist sympathies could destroy a man's career. Using de-classified documents, interviews with key players and dramatizations filmed around the world, the film reconstructs the ordeal that Norman endured for seven long years, as a US Senate subcommittee relentlessly probed his past beliefs and current loyalties. During his meteoric rise and fall, Norman crossed paths with some of the greatest personalities of his time: Nobel-prize winning Canadian diplomat and politician Lester B. Pearson; FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, whose organization had an 800-page security file on Norman; General Douglas MacArthur, to whom Norman was a trusted aide; and charismatic Egyptian leader Gamel Abdul Nasser.

John Kramer
Director
John Kramer
Writer
Greg Ellwand, Kenneth Welsh, Frank Blanch
Starring

Language: English
Awards:
Country: Canada
Metacritic Score:
DVD Release Date:
Box Office Total:

7.9

IMDb (15 votes)
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