Profile of the last Shah of Iran Mohammed Reza Pahlaviusing interviews from family, friends, supporters and enemies. Filmed for the BBC’s Reputations series in 1996. Profile of Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, formerly the Shah of Iran, who was overthrown by Muslim fundamentalists in 1979 and forced into exile. Supporters speak out on behalf of the man who saw himself as a visionary king, while detractors dismiss him as a Third World dictator ousted by a popular revolution. The Niavaran Palace, the former residence of the Shah is now kept as a museum. In the Shah’s dressing room hang uniforms heavy with ribbon and braid, the classic trappings of a third world dictator. But the man who wore the uniforms would never accept this label. In his own eyes he was a visionary king leading a grateful nation toward something he called the great civilization. History proved him wrong but for nearly 40 years many people gambled on him being right. This documentary is the story of that gamble and why he became the last Shah, ending 2,500 years of monarchy in Iran.
