Alan Smithee the Worst Film Director in History

Credit: Buena Vista Productions

Director Alan Smithee directed his first film Fade In in 1968 and released his first feature film in 1969 Death of a Gunfighter.

Smithee is one of the most prolific directors in history directing 48 feature length films 17 televisions shows, 19 music videos as well as writing 3 comics 3 video games, 4 pornographic movies and creating the DC character Elastigirl. And if you were on a plane in the early to mid 1990’s Alan Smithee probably re edited whatever terrible TV show you were watching for flying audiences.

Smithee’s work has the dubious honour of having one of the lowest cumalitive scores of any creative on rotten tomatoes. Smithee was an auteur of terrible directing making everything from Comedies to Horror to Mockumentaries

His reputation for being the worst director in history is well founded. Almost every film he ever made was lampooned across the board. One of his last films Burn Hollywood Burn is the 13th lowest rated film on Rotten Tomatoes it won 5 golden raspberries and grossed just $45000 on a 10-million-dollar budget.

So how on earth did Alan Smithee keep getting work?

Because Alan Smithee never existed.

Smithee was born in 1968 the bastard child of Robert Totten and Don Siegel. Who both partially directed Death of a Gun fighter over the same year.

The film began life under Robert Totten who eventually left after disagreements with the studio Don Siegel picked it up about halfway through but didn’t feel it represented his work so asked that Totten keep the director credit.

But Totten… also didn’t want to be credited.

The two directors and the studio took the problem to the directors guild who required the director get credit and that no pseudonyms be used.

But Totten and Siegel wouldn't budge.

So the DGA made a one off exception creating a fictional director to take credit. So they came up with the most generic name they could think of and added an ee to it. And so, Alan Smithee was born.

But no one outside of the DGA knew. So when in 1969 Death of a Gunfighter hit theatres critics took it at its credits. And gushed about the films new director.

Death of a gunfighter is Alan Smithee’s only well received work. Roger Ebert even praised it for its pace.

The Smithee pseudonym would lie unused for ten years. An obscure resolution to a contract dispute.

Then in 1980 Jud Taylor directing city of fear picked the name back up.

While directing city of fear Taylor claimed the producers added in extra murders without asking him so requested his name be removed from the film.

The DGA this time prepared for this kind of thing gave him the Alan Smithee name to slap on their. Taylor liked the idea so much he actually had them change the credits on his earlier film Fade in 1968 to Alan Smithee. Retroactively making this the first Smithee film.

Following this the name took off among directors. A director still had to consult the DGA before using a pseudonym. But when a director unhappy with studio interference talked to the DGA they would present them with this name.

Saving face for the studio. And the director. But also signalling to other directors and creatives that someone had lost faith in this product.

The 80’s and 90’s were the high point for the name with over 2 dozen movies credited to the fictitious director.

The DGA attempted to put an embargo on directors talking about the use of the name. But as always happens people talk.

And rumors began circulating that the famed director of garbage wasn’t actually real.

In 1997 with the use of the name now an open secret. Arthur Hiller directed a mockumentary called An Allen Smithee film burn Hollywood burn.

In which director Alan Smithee tries to disown his work only to find out his name is the one used to disown work.

The film ironically was a massive flop and one of Smithee’s worst both financially and critically.

But what the film showed was that no one was fooled anymore. So in 2000 the directors guild officially retired the name.

The name has continued on as an homage to Hollywood. And still sometimes finds its ways into credits.

But what about directors who want to distance themselves from works?

Well in 2000 after the retirement of Alan Smithee Walter Hill directed Supernova, which was then recut several times.

Instead of Alan Smithee he disowned the project with the name Thomas Lee.

In the age of the internet keeping your involvement in a film secret would be next to impossible.

But you never know. Maybe one of your favourite directors is actually a 20 year deep fake. Designed to take credit for all of Hollywoods garbage.

I mean it would explain Michael Bay’s career.

Anyway that is all we have time for

Thank you for joining me feedback can be sent to historical hysteria @gmail.com And don’t forget to check the socials r/historical hysteria on reddit and @manichistory on twitter.

But before I leave let me leave you with this:

In 1939 movie goers were blown away by the movie the wizard of oz, and it’s plucky gang of adventurers, Dorothy, the cowardly lion, the tin man, and the scarecrow.

Little known to audiences was that the tin man’s actor Buddy Ebsen had been replaced last minute because the paint used in the costume had been so toxic it almost killed him.

The studio used the same paint on Jack Haley who replaced Ebsen and would complain of breathing problems for the rest of his life.

Also the snow was asbestos.

Yeah the Hollywood glitz and glamour wasn’t so glamourous back then was it.

Anyway bye.