DALE HAWES

So have you ever heard of a guy by the name of Alan Smithee? Alan Smithee is credited for directing many Hollywood films such as “Hellraiser IV” in 1996 as well as "The Indiscreet Mrs. Jarvis” in 1955. According to IMDb, he has directed 105 films. He is also an accomplished actor, writer, cinematographer, producer, composer and editor in Hollywood history. However he is mainly known as a film director. Despite his huge body of work over his 60 some year career he has never joined a single union. He is not a member of SAG, WGA or even the DGA (The Directors Guild of America). How did he do all this? You see… Alan Smithee does not exist.  He is the ‘directed by’ credit they put on a movie when the director does not want his name attached to the film. You see, sometimes a director is under a contract that forces them to direct a film that they hate or sometimes the director has creative differences with the production or sometimes, is fired from a film. For whatever reason… sometimes the director wants nothing to do with the film. In such a case an ‘Alan Smithee' credit is put on the screen in place of the directors true name. An Alan Smithee credit is not easy to get because the directors name on a film is like the artist signature on a painting. The movie is considered the director’s ‘baby’. There is a reason the directors credit is the last name you see across the screen before the film officially starts. If you are settling in to watch an old movie and you see “Directed by; Alan Smithee”, you might be wise to stop wasting any more time watching this film because it might be a real turd. In a movie called “Hollywood Burn” from 1997, Eric Idle played a guy named Alan Smithee who wanted to become a film director but had trouble doing so because of his name. Since that film, the DGA decided the “Alan Smithee” credit got way too much exposure so they don’t really use it anymore. They believe audiences would be demanding their money back after the film just started. There is a debate as to who is the worst director of all time… Ed Wood or Allen Smithee. Here’s the punch line… Alan Smithee was nominated for Best Film by The International Fantasy Film Awards. What a crazy world!

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- D. Hawes