The secret of Alan Smithee: Hollywood’s most successful phantom

«It’s so good I put my name on it!» Former boxer George Foreman’s move into kitchen appliances in the 1990s with the Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine gained traction thanks to his enthusiastic ads and catchy slogan. The big hitter’s endorsement implies quality. But there’s at least one name in Hollywood that stands for the opposite: Alan Smithee. If you see this name in the credits, there’s a pretty good chance that the film is terrible.

Bad isn’t always bad

There are films that are so bad they’re weirdly good again and even achieve cult status over time. For example, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes from 1978, which even had several sequels. In fact, in 1988, a certain George Clooney can be seen in The Return of the Killer Tomatoes. Maybe not his finest hour!

Then there are films that are so bad they’re irredeemable, and even the director doesn’t want their name on them. In these cases, Alan Smithee is happy to take on the role of scapegoat. That’s no problem for him, because Alan is the human equivalent of Teflon. Malice and criticism simply roll off him, he stubbornly and unwaveringly follows his path of questionable films and cuts.

To be or not to be, that is the question

This is also shown on IMDb, the largest online database of international filmmaking. According to the directory, Alan Smithee has now directed over 150 films. There are also dozens of entries in categories such as screenplay, camera, production and music. And as if that weren’t enough, he’s also worked on comics and video games.

You see, Alan Smithee is multi-talented. A jack of all trades. If not a universal genius – and one who’s been in the film business for ages. Longer than Steven Spielberg, for example. But do you know what the craziest thing about Alan Smithee is?

He’s never existed.

The pseudonym recommended by the union

In 1968, during the filming of the western Death of a Gunfighter, there was a dispute between director Robert Totten and lead actor Richard Widmark, which culminated in Totten being replaced by Don Siegel. Siegel finished the film, but didn’t want to be listed as the director in the credits because he’d worked on it for less time than Totten and the film still clearly bore his signature. Robert Totten, in turn, also refused to be listed as director after he was dropped.

It was a dilemma, because the Directors Guild of America (DGA) wanted the director – as the driving creative force of a film – to be listed in the credits. So, the US directors’ union advised the use of a pseudonym, contrary to its previous guidelines.

Allen Smithee was born – later changed to Alan Smithee. Since word didn’t spread as quickly back then as it does today, the name was actually taken at face value. For example, film critic Roger Ebert wrote favourably in his review of Death of a Gunfighter:

Why Alan Smithee? Because the name is unique and yet inconspicuous, says the DGA. In addition, there’s not much likelihood of it being confused with a real name. The rumour that Alan Smithee is just an anagram for The Alias Men has been around for decades. The DGA dismisses this as a myth. It even denies it. Nobody knows why – after all, the name fits like a glove.

The man with prominent faces

Since then, Alan Smithee has mostly been called in when artistic and creative differences arise. For example, in the 1980s, David Lynch didn’t want to be associated with the TV cut of Dune. The TV version corresponded even less to his vision than the film version – he didn’t have the rights to the final cut. Something Lynch regrets to this day.

The squabble over David Lynch’s Dune is perhaps the best-known example of Alan Smithee’s name being used. But there are other well-known names who were so dissatisfied with cuts of their films that they had themselves replaced. Easy Rider creator Dennis Hopper wanted nothing to do with the 90-minute version of Backtrack (1990). It was only in the two-hour director’s cut on VHS that he revealed himself as director in the credits. 24 star Kiefer Sutherland subsequently had his name removed as director of Woman Wanted…Maybe because the film – in which he also plays a leading role – is so bad (linked article in German)? It may also have been embarrassing for Evil Dead and Spider-Man creator Sam Raimi and his older brother: they wrote the screenplay for The Nutt House (1992) as Alan Smithee Junior and Alan Smithee Senior.

The end of Alan Smithee

From 1968 to 2000, the DGA officially recommended Alan Smithee as a pseudonym if directors didn’t want to be associated with the final product. Despite this recommendation, however, the union didn’t approve the use of the pseudonym in every case. Tony Kaye, for example, wasn’t allowed to be removed as director of American History X in 1998. He violated the DGA’s golden rule and publicly expressed negative views on the film because it had been re-edited several times without his knowledge or consent.

The end of Alan Smithee was heralded in the 1997 mockumentary film An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn. In it, a filmmaker named Alan Smithee (played by Monty Python veteran Eric Idle) wants to have his name removed from the credits of the final product. Which isn’t so easy because his real name is the official pseudonym for such cases.

Although the film’s packed with well-known names such as Sylvester Stallone and Whoopie Goldberg, Burn Hollywood Burn seems to be a really bad piece of work. One where director Arthur Hiller was also dissatisfied with the final cut and had himself replaced by Alan Smithee.

That was too much of a good thing for the DGA. Or rather, too much Alan Smithee. The pseudonym had become too well-known and its reputation too tarnished. Films with that name in the credits were automatically considered bad, which made it even more difficult for studio bosses and cinema operators to successfully distribute the film. So, the union revoked its official pseudonym recommendation in 2000. Instead, it now recommends other pseudonyms such as Thomas Lee. This name was first used in Supernova, where the actual director Walter Hill had himself removed from the credits.

Alan Smithee’s legacy

And is that it for Alan Smithee? Not at all. Since 2000, he’s continued to work as a director for films, series episodes, music videos and more. He’s even been credited with several projects that haven’t been released yet. There are probably still artistic differences behind the use of this pseudonym. But it may also be a calculated move to send Alan Smithee into the ring. Such a popular name is bound to make people sit up and take notice. As the saying goes in marketing circles (and is usually wrong), bad publicity is better than no publicity.

In this sense, Alan Smithee probably won’t run out of work any time soon. Even if in the digital age it’s almost impossible to hide who’s actually behind a film. By the way, Alan Smithee didn’t write this article. It’s so good I put my name on it 😉.