We ’ve all had times when we ’ve require to disown our failures , whether they ’re our break or not . A disastrous assignment , a bungled presentment , an embarrassinginterview– would n’t it be gracious to slap a imitation name on it and act it happened to someone else ? Hollywooddirectorshave the alternative of doing just that . They can completely erase themselves from stillborn projects by using a nom de guerre . And for 30 old age , that pseudonym was Alan Smithee .
Alan Smithee ’s first film was 1969 ’s " Death of a Gunfighter . " The original conductor , Robert Totten , did n’t get along with the film ’s star , who had him replaced with a bozo named Don Siegel . When all was said and done , neither Totten nor Siegel wanted reference for the film , so the Directors Guild of America ( DGA ) had to descend up with a pseudonym . Rumor has it that the name was make as an anagram for " the assumed name military man , " but that ’s in all probability just a funny co-occurrence . The more likely story is that the guild was prove to come up with something generic - vocalize but could n’t take someone ’s actual name , so the two tocopherol ’s were add to " Smith . "
From 1969 through 2000 , Alan ( or Allen ) Smithee squeeze up about 40 film , goggle box , and medicine video credits [ source : Prendreigh ] . Sometimes , the theatre version of a film was accredit to the existent director , but Smithee took credit for the video or aeroplane edit . To make a case for a Smithee credit , the disgruntled director had to turn up to a DGA panel that his or her creative visual sensation had been repress , through studio encumbrance or otherwise . Once the nom de guerre was in place , though , the director was forbidden to speak in public about the fate .
Over the years savvy moviegoer take up to memorise what the nom de guerre meant and " Alan Smithee " became synonymous with " loge office disaster . " The Directors Guild evidently was n’t well-chosen with that exploitation . The final nail in Smithee ’s casket was the 1998 movie " An Alan Smithee Film : fire Hollywood Burn , " about a conductor named Alan Smithee who assay to disown a disastrous movie . ( It was , of trend , credited to Alan Smithee , and Roger Ebert called it a " spectacularly speculative film . " ) In 2000 , the DGA officially quit the use of the Smithee name [ author : Prendreigh ] .
So what ’s a dissatisfied theatre director to do now that Alan Smithee no longer exists ? The DGA does still bid the pseudonym option , but there ’s no stock name anymore . And because the parties involved are sworn to secrecy , it can be strong for the oecumenical public to tell when a picture show ’s been disowned . The first known film of the post - Smithee epoch was 2000 ’s " Supernova , " which was credited to " Thomas Lee " after the studio apartment had Francis Ford Coppola re - edit director Walter Hill ’s translation . And " Shortcut to Happiness , " Alec Baldwin ’s directorial first appearance , is now credited to " Harry Kirkpatrick . " Apparently Baldwin ask for the variety after the studio re - edited his drama into a drollery . The plastic film wrapped in 2001 but did n’t hit theaters until 2007 , to overwhelmingly dreadful reviews .
