'Who is Alan Smithee' can be an interesting trivia question for film buffs. The name has been used in the credits of Hollywood films as a director more time than any other. Even prolific filmmakers like Alfred Hitchcock and Steven Spielberg do not have as many credits as a director as dear old Alan. However, what complicates matters for Alan's legacy is the small matter that he does not exist.

The curious case of Alan Smithee

Alan Smithee, also spelt Allen Smithee, is the official pseudonym used by film directors, largely in America, when they want to disown their projects. The name was coined by the Directors Guild of America (DGA) in 1968. Since then, it has been used by several directors in 50 films. Whenever a director feels they haven't had the desired creative control over the film and they would not want their name associated with the final product, they can request DGA to allow the use of Alan Smithee. The DGA reserves the final decision once the filmmaker can prove to the satisfaction of a guild panel that they had not been able to exercise creative control over a film. The director is not allowed to discuss in public why they disowned their film.

The birth of Alan Smithee

The pseudonym was originally created for a Western titled Death of a Gunfighter. The lead actor replaced director Robert Totten with Don Siegel mid-shoot. Siegel argued that he had only shot one-fourth of the film and that the star had had creative control. Since he did not want the credit, DGA invented Alan Smithee. Surprisingly, the film received rave reviews with Roger Ebert writing, "Director Allen Smithee, a name I'm not familiar with, allows his story to unfold naturally." The name was then retroactively added to Burt Reynolds' 1968 hit Fade In. The DGA then decided to use the name in similar situations thereafter.

Directed by Alan Smithee, a showreel

In the 70s and 80s, Alan Smithee stepped in for disgruntled directors several times. In 1984, David Lynch disowned the extended TV version of his classic, Dune, and Alan Smithee's name was featured as the director. In 1992, Martin Brest disowned a cut in-flight version of his acclaimed film, Scent of a Woman, and again, Smithee stepped up. Al Pacino won the Best Actor Oscar for his role in the film. Three years later, Michael Mann disowned the TV cut of his Pacino and Robert de Niro-starrer Heat, and Alan Smithee took over. Over the years, Smithee 'directed' several other big stars like Brad Pitt in Meet Joe Black, Russell Crowe in The Insider, and Jeremy Renner in National Lampoon's Senior Trip.

Smithee also filled in for dissatisfied directors in episodes of many TV shows and music videos. After the turn of the century, as internet proliferation made it impossible to keep a director's involvement secret, Alan Smithee's 'career' slowed down and then halted. The last film that made use of the pseudonym was the 2015 horror film Old 37.

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