Alan Smithee stands out as one of Hollywood’s most peculiar figures. Across a career that spanned five decades, he appears in administrative records as the director behind numerous feature films, short works, music videos, and screenplays between 1969 and 1999, yet he did not actually participate in their creation. He is a fictitious name used by industry professionals who felt their creative freedom was compromised or altered by producers and studios.
The first project assigned to the pseudonym was a western known as Lawless City, featuring Richard Widmark. The original director, Robert Totten, was dismissed by the production company due to a troubled working relationship, and Don Siegel was brought in as a replacement. In a gesture of solidarity, Siegel declined to sign the film. Totten and Siegel refused to accept responsibility for the film’s authorship, which led the Directors Guild of America to rule that works could not be credited to a false director. Nevertheless, with both men declining responsibility, the film became the first to credit the fictional Alan Smithee, and the practice would spread to other productions, including some that were completed before the rule took effect.
In one instance, producer Jud Taylor retroactively used the Smithee name to distance a project from blackout. The film, released in 1968, predates the Siegel-Totten dispute. Another notable case involved David Lynch, who in 1988 asked his own name to be removed from the version of a film that aired in theaters and in video stores. The reedited version, which contained material not present in the original release, was sometimes promoted as offering a clearer narrative, yet Lynch remained dissatisfied and allowed a different fictitious signature to be used on the finished work. He even contemplated mounting the script under a separate alias.
A VOICE SECRET
For years the true identity behind Alan Smithee stayed within Hollywood circles or among film critics. In 1995 the editor of a prominent industry publication noted that there was no actual director named Smithee and that the name served as a stand in for directors who did not want to be associated with the final cut. The discussion extended into TV coverage in the mid 1990s and into early 2000s, with reporters recounting incidents in which the Smithee name was used by directors trying to dissociate themselves from troublesome productions.
One memorable moment came with a film released in 1986 that later ended up as a case study in how credits can be manipulated. The inability to publicly own the film’s creative direction highlighted the tension between directors and producers and reinforced the notoriety of the Smithee alias.
Everything shifted with the 1999 release of Burn Hollywood! a satirical take on the industry that was aimed at exposing the inner workings of Hollywood. The title in English was An Alan Smithee Movie: Burning Hollywood, and the screenplay was written by Joe Eszterhas, known for his sharp takes on the film world.
The project featured cameos from famous names and notable performers and, in a twist, the lead role was performed by Eric Idle under the umbrella of a character named Alan Smithee. The humor lampooned the power struggles and the oddities of movie making, including the dynamic between a director and a producer. At one point the production found itself in a bind when the director elected not to sign the film, leaving the project to be documented under the real name of the creator in some sections.
Eszterhas did not anticipate how the concept would take on a life of its own. Conflicts on the set led to resistance from the film’s actual creative team and from some executives who preferred a different credit approach. Burn Hollywood! received several Razzie nominations, and the box office dropped well below expectations, underscoring the financial risks that accompany failed artistic control.
Bye Bye to SMITHEE
The film’s reception helped mark a turning point. As audiences grew curious, the broader public lost interest in continuing the Smithee experiment. Beginning in 2000 the Directors Guild relaxed its rules, allowing works to be attributed to pseudonyms other than Smithee. Directors could choose alternate signatures, offering a way to dissociate a project from a director while avoiding a public dispute.
Walter Hill became the first to benefit from this new policy, signing the film Supernova in 2000 under the name Thomas Lee. Other directors followed, choosing names like Harry Kirkpatrick for the documentary Shortcut to Happiness directed by Alec Baldwin.
Though the Smithee chapter is largely behind Hollywood lore, it continues to spark scholarly interest. Researchers examine how a fictional author affected the film world and whether the Smithee figure can be linked to broader questions about authorship in cinema. Works on the subject analyze whether the Smithee legend reflects ideas about authorship, censorship, and the tension between artistic intent and studio control. These discussions draw on theories from writers and philosophers who have explored how creative identity is constructed and contested in motion pictures.