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Saddam's $30M Film Nearly Canceled by Drunk Actor
29 Jun
Summary
- A drunken Oliver Reed nearly halted production with a bizarre hotel incident.
- The $30 million film was hampered by the Iran-Iraq war and prop transport issues.
- After its 1983 premiere, the film was shelved due to sanctions and political climate.
Saddam Hussein's grand vision for an Iraqi film industry aimed to create patriotic blockbusters for a Western audience. His ambitious project, "Clash of Loyalties," a $30 million epic detailing Iraq's formation, began filming in July 1980. The production faced immediate hurdles with the onset of the Iran-Iraq war, leading to cast and crew being conscripted.
Transporting World War One prop weapons from Turkey proved a significant logistical challenge. Turkish customs detained the film's lorries, suspecting they carried an illegal arms shipment. Meanwhile, star Oliver Reed's behavior, including urinating in a wine bottle and presenting it to another table, nearly caused his dismissal by Iraqi authorities.
Producer Lateif Jorephani narrowly persuaded officials to allow Reed to stay, averting a costly reshoot. Despite these close calls and the ongoing war impacting filming, "Clash of Loyalties" was completed. It premiered at the Moscow Film Festival in July 1983, winning an award, but was largely unseen thereafter.
Following Iraq's occupation of Kuwait in 1990, international sanctions were imposed, preventing the film from ever being screened again. This marked the end of Hussein's dream of establishing Iraq as a major international film production center, leaving "Clash of Loyalties" as a singular, largely unviewed, testament to a grand ambition.
