Ly surprising, but as never released

much as he could.” But nicians and actors it was cer Jorephani recalled: d up to fight. hey had been killed and ir scenes again. The war ms.” tennis. It was total chaos.” Jorephani said: “The horses didn’t turn up – we were told the army needed them.” Meanwhile Oliver continued to party. In his famous gravelly- voice, he would announce: “Right, lads, back to my room for a soiree.” Piling excess upon excess, Olly filled a champagne bucket with bubbly and added a bottle of brandy. He urged his companions: “Get it down you.” Those who ducked the drinking sessions risked incurring Reed’s wrath. And sometimes the boozing led to trouble. One of the crew dangled him over a 20th storey balcony after a row. The sozzled star simply dared his attacker to drop him. But Olly went too far when he peed in a wine bottle and asked the waiter to present it to a party of people at the next table with his complements.

News of the prank reached outraged Saddam, who was hoping to set up a Middle East version of Tinseltown. He summoned the movie bosses and ordered them to get rid of Reed.

Explosions

Somehow they managed to smooth things over and Olly stayed. Jorephani recalled: “I couldn’t get rid of the main star. Olly might have been drunk the night before but by 6am he would be on set and he would know his lines.”

At last, only the final battle scene, which featured a train hijacking, remained to be filmed.

Jorephani recalled: “We found a disused railway line – but unfortunately it was near Iran.” Huge explosions on the set alarmed both warring armies, who thought the shooting was for real.

A message came through for everyone to clear out. Jorephani said: “An Iraqi commander had his guns trained on us and was about to shoot.”

When Jorephani went to show the late and over-budget film to Saddam he was nervous about the reaction. But the Iraqi leader, who killed thousands of his own people, was pleased and rewarded the producer with a gold watch.

Clash of Loyalties never found a distributor, and Saddam’s dream of a new Hollywood died.

He was toppled in 2003 and executed for crimes against humanity in 2006. Oliver Reed died in 1999 aged 61 after a drinking binge.

Saddam Goes to Hollywood is at 8pm on Channel 4 tonight.