Hollywood’s worst-kept secret?

Alan Smithee – the most prolific Hollywood director with over 150 movies listed on IMDB – has been trending on X and online forums such as Reddit in recent weeks. But what’s so special about him?

Who is Alan Smithee?

No one.You read that right. Alan Smithee doesn’t exist, never did. It’s just a pseudonym Hollywood uses when someone isn’t happy with how a project turns out and doesn’t want a credit.The pseudonym was born in 1968 as a direct result of a Directors Guild of America (DGA) rule: No film can be released without a director credit.And the western,

Death of a Gunfighter,

posed just that problem.The original director, Robert Totten, had a fall out with lead actor Richard Widmark during the shoot, and was replaced by Don Siegel.

But though Siegel finished the film, he refused to take credit as the director, as the film clearly bore Totten’s signature. The DGCA recommended a solution – the use of a pseudonym. And the rest is history.

Why is Smithee trending?

In the age of internet detectives, pseudonyms in Hollywood have turned into Easter eggs. Communities on Reddit analyse end credits and copyright filings to reveal which top directors might be hiding behind unusual names.

Current recommendations for such disputed projects include ‘Thomas Lee’, which was first used for

Supernova

.A recent article highlighted the extensive use of ‘Alan Smithee’ credit in various films, including alternate versions of

Scent of a Woman

and

Heat

. This has sparked discussions among film enthusiasts and social media users about the pseudonym’s legacy and the circumstances under which it was employed. Handles like @AlanSmithee1987 and @Smithee_directs has contributed to the trend, often sharing content related to film culture, satire, and commentary, keeping the conversation about ‘Alan Smithee’ alive.

What this means in the streaming era

In today’s content-saturated market, with the changing definitions of a ‘big-budget studio’, directors are frequently hired, and replaced, as “service providers” rather than as auteurs. Studios and platforms often exert more editorial control, sidelining directors during post-production.This creates a possibility of directors wanting to distance themselves, especially if a show is recut or reshot by the platform.

For fans, it is all about finding that Easter egg of pseudonyms through the deepest online dive possible.

The end?

The pseudonym was over-publicised, ruining its reputation. Films credited with it were automatically considered bad and that made it difficult for studio bosses to find successful distribution. The DGA drew the line. The union ‘retired’ its official pseudonym recommendation in 2000. But it seems like Hollywood isn’t ready to retire it even now, with Alan getting umpteen credits in between, and has more in the offing.

Fun fact:

Alan Smithee has 415 credits listed on IMDB, including 149 director credits for past productions and four for upcoming ones, 61 credits as actors, 42 as writer, 36 as producer and 13 as composer. It’s all over the place, spread across 24 categories

Fun fact:

Smithee even fooled well-known film critic Roger Ebert, who wrote a positive review of

Death of a Gunfighter

, saying, “Director Allen Smithee, a name I’m not familiar with, allows his story to unfold naturally.”

Fun fact:

In the 1997 mockumentary

An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn

, a filmmaker, Alan Smithee (Eric Idle) wants to have his name removed from the credits of the final product. This isn’t easy, because his real name is the official pseudonym for such cases. That’s the storyline, but then there’s the twist. The film’s actual director, Arthur Hiller, wasn’t satisfied with its final cut, and so….

Fun fact:

Among Hollywood A-listers, Steven Soderbergh has used pseudonyms most prolifically, maintaining distinct creative personas for different roles, especially within the same project.

He’s known to have used ‘Peter Andrews’ as a pseudonym for his role as a cinematographer and ‘Mary Ann Bernard’ for his work as an editor.The Coen Brothershave occasionally credited themselves under aliases like ‘Roderick Jaynes’ for editing work.

The G.O.A.T Smithee:

The pseudonym has been used since 1968 by several directors, including David Lynch, and has come to signify a bad film. In more recent years,

Evil Dead

and

Spider-Man

creator Sam Raimi and his elder brother wrote the screenplay for 1992 film

The Nutt House

as Alan Smithee Junior and Alan Smithee Senior.For the TV cut of

Dune

(1984), David Lynch disowned the extended television cut of his sci-fi epic, not the theatrical version. He used the credits ‘Directed by Alan Smithee’/ Written by ‘Judas Booth’ (a jab at betrayal, like Judas and John Wilkes Booth).

Famous Hollywood Pseudonyms

Stephen Greene –

Accidental Love

(2015); disowned by David O. RussellThomas Lee –

Supernova

(2000); disowned by Walter Hill and completed by other directors, including Francis Ford Coppola Ernie Fusco –

Highball

(1997); disowned by Noah BaumbachJan Jensen –

Showgirls

(1995, TV Edit); disowned by Paul Verhoeven