Alan, Alan, who the f*** is Alan?!
Alan Smithee has a pretty bad rep for a guy that doesn’t exist at all.
The name first popped up back in 1969 on the Western flick Death of a Gunfighter.
So the story goes, the OG director Robert Totten had a tiff with one of the movie stars, quit, and was replaced by Don Siegel.
In the end, neither of them liked the finished product and so neither wanted to be named: from here Alan Smithee was born.
Apparently, they first tried to get the DGA (Directors Guild of America) panel to sign off on the name “Al Smith”, but they thought that kinda sounds like it could be a real guy, so they added an ‘e’ to the last name, and then another.
“Surely there’s no real life Smithee’s around!” they said. Not really.
But still, from there the Alan Smithee name really took off – directors started disowning their work left right and centre.
In the end, Alan became too well known to the public – audiences saw the name and straight away knew it was an epic fail.
Alan hadn’t quite reached 67 when the DGA retired him in 2000.
Still, here’s some of the best (or maybe worst?) films from his 30 year career:
Dune (1984)
Well, the directors cut at least – David Lynch apparently wasn’t stoked with the final 3 hour version and wanted his name removed.
Burn Hollywood Burn (1997)
The film that was Alan’s final nail in the coffin – it’s a mockumentary about a director who’s real name is Alan Smithee – full circle moment!
Student Bodies (1981)
Reddit can’t seem to figure out why this one got “Alan Smitheed” – a classic 80s slasher, though who directed what wasn’t really clear by the end of production.
Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996)
The fourth installment of the Hellraiser series that ended up so bad the director said not a chance.
Death of a Gunfighter (1969)
You know the story already, but how can we not mention the film that started it all?
The Guardian (1990)
Director William Friedkin reserved the pseudonym for the cable TV version only – which means a few too many 90s kids got an early intro to Smithee.
Gunhed (1989)
From the team behind Godzilla, this is another one that was disowned for being straight-up bad.
Twilight Zone (1983)
One of the only movies where it was one of the assistant directors who ended up adopting the Alan Smithee pseudonym.
House III: The Horror Show (1989)
Another 80s slasher, but this time Alan tried his hand at writing rather than directing.
The Birds II: Land’s End (1994)
Don’t show this one to your mate with a fear of birds! A group of bloodthirsty seagulls terrorise a young family – need we say more on why this one ended up with the Smithee credit?
