"As a youth, [`Adil] Imam was a communist activist, but during government crackdowns in the '50s, his father ripped up Maoist and Marxist literature he discovered in his room. Imam once rejected a screenwriter's remark that he is a political party unto himself, but he occasionally blurts out strong political opinions. He said Egyptians are "schizophrenic" about the United States. "We send lots of immigrants to America," he said, "but we dislike its bias to Israel."He called Gamal Abdul Nasser, the army officer who overthrew Egypt's monarchy and became a hero throughout the Middle East, "Egypt's first true president." Asked whether he was Egypt's last true president, Imam was silent."