Alan Smithee 

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For the 1997 film, see An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn,

Alan Smithee (or the alternate spellings Allen Smithee, Alan Smythee, and Adam Smithee) is a pseudonym that has been used since 1968 by film directors who wished to be dissociated from a film. Until a policy change in the year 2000,citation neededvague it was used when a director proved to the satisfaction of a panel of members of the Directors Guild of America (DGA) and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers that he or she was not able to exercise creative control over a film. The director was also required to keep the reason for the disavowal a secret.citation needed

Contents

Origin

The first movie known to use the Smithee pseudonym was Death of a Gunfighter (1969). During its filming, Richard Widmark was unhappy with director Robert Totten, and arranged to have him replaced by Don Siegel. When the film was finished, neither Totten nor Siegel wanted to be credited with the result. At first, it was decided that the credit should go to the fictional "Al Smith", but the DGA reported there had already been an actual director by that name, and the credit was altered. The film was praised by critics, with The New York Times commenting that the film was "sharply directed by Allen Smithee sic who has an adroit facility for scanning faces and extracting sharp background detail." 1

Prolific "career"

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The name Smithee was used extensively in television and film; Smithee took the direction credit for episodes of well-known series, including the pilot for the action-adventure series MacGyver. Jud Taylor twice used the pseudonym, for the TV movies Fade-In (also known as Iron Cowboy) (1968) with Burt Reynolds and City in Fear (1980) with David Janssen. Taylor commented on its use when the DGA's Robert B. Aldrich Achievement Award was awarded to "Smithee":

"I had a couple of problems in my career having to do with editing and not having the contractually-required number of days in the editing room that my agent couldn't resolve. So, I went to the Guild and said, 'This is what's going on.' The Guild went to bat for me. I got Alan Smithee on them both. It was a signal to the industry from a creative rights point of view that the shows had been tampered with."

Although the pseudonym was intended for use by directors, the 1981 film Student Bodies credited Allen Smithee as producer in place of the actual producer, Michael Ritchie. The film's director, Mickey Rose, was credited by his own name rather than a pseudonym.

Smithee has also been credited with works in other genres:

Use in alternative versions

Other productions crediting Smithee as director

The following films credit Smithee; the actual director is listed when known:

Music videos "directed" by Smithee

References

  1. ^ Thompson, Howard (May 10 1969). "Screen: Tough Western: 'Death of a Gunfighter' Stars Widmark" New York Times [1]

See also

External links and sources