Bethune

Bethune (1964)

A film biography of Dr. Norman Bethune, the Canadian doctor who served with the loyalists during the Spanish Civil War and with the North Chinese Army during the Sino-Japanese War. In Spain he pioneered the world's first mobile blood-transfusion service; in China his work behind battle lines to save the wounded has made him a legendary figure. This hour-long documentary film pieces together his remarkable career.

Date of release
1964-01-01
TMDB
7.5 / 10 (2)
Runtime
59m
Genres
Documentary
Director
Donald Brittain

Casting

Interesting facts

Bethune is a 1965 Canadian documentary based on the life of Norman Bethune that aired on CBC Television.

Production

John Kemeny, a producer at the National Film Board, wanted to make a documentary about Norman Bethune after reading The Scalpel, the Sword: The Story of Dr. Norman Bethune by Ted Allan and Sydney Gordon. It was filmed with a budget of $78,874 (equivalent to $770,899 in 2025). Kemeny edited the film while co-producing and co-writing it with Donald Brittain, the film's director, and it was narrated by Lister Sinclair.

The NFB was afraid of creating a film about Bethune due to his communist beliefs and affiliation with Mao Zedong, but Brittain focused on Bethune's activities and stated that "in another century he might have been a crusader or a troubadour" and that "Bethune decides to throw in with the Communist Party. However, Bethune the Marxist does not interfere with Bethune the happy wanderer".

The distribution branch of the NFB believed that the film could be dubbed into Mandarin Chinese in an attempt to enter the Chinese market, which they had been unsuccessful at since 1959. Marcel Cadieux, the Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs, opposed it and Secretary of State for External Affairs Paul Martin Sr. limited film exports to China to only educational or scientific films after discussing the matter with Cadieux.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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