Roll Call: Alan Smithee

Alan Smithee. Anyone ever heard of this guy? Chances are, if you're a fan of all-things-movies, you have. On the other hand, if you're a fan of *good* movies, I'd wager you haven't.

So who the heck is this guy, and why am I besmirching his good name? To set the record straight, I'm not actually besmirching anything. In fact, I'm writing this post in his honor.

"But, wait," you're thinking to yourself, "you just implied he makes no good movies?" Well, that's both true and not true. Let me explain this lovely little paradox.

How Can a Director be Both Good and Bad?

Community fans may have some flashbacks to S5E2, when Abed takes the Class "Nicholas Cage: Good or Bad?" Luckily for us, we don't have to go down the rabbit hole Abed did, as we have a relatively straight forward answer.

Alan Smithee is the Batman to our movie industry's Gotham. He's the hero we all need, but don't deserve.

Alan Smithee is, in reality, nothing more than a pseudonym. While IMDB lists Mr. Smithee as a director as early as 1955 with the TV Short The Indiscreet Mrs. Jarvis, his first major motion picture appears to be 1967's Death of a Gunfighter, and he showed up for one reason - the true director on the movie wanted nothing to do with it. For the next 30 years, directors used Mr. Smithee's name whenever they needed a professional scapegoat. If a director could prove to the Director's Guild of America (DGA) that the cut of the movie was a bastardization of their vision, then they could offload the credit to "Alan Smithee."

Ironically, for his directorial debut, Smithee received fairly high praise, but, as anticipated, and perhaps by design, those positive reviews didn't last. A one hit wonder, Alan Smithee has directed over 100 films, but has never flown as close to the sun.

Where'd the Name Come From?

For the conspiracy theorists out there, folks have claimed that "Alan Smithee" is an anagram of "The Alias Men." While it can't be denied that the name makes a stunning match for the anagram, it's not the reason the name was chosen.

Allegedly, "Alan Smith" was too close to someone already in the game. Adding an "e" could help to distinguish fact from fiction, but "Alan Smithe" still seemed like a possible name. And God forbid the next Spielberg or Scorsese be unlucky enough to somehow be raised a "Smithe." Add another "e" though, and "Alan Smithee" would likely never be anyone's name.

Huzzah! In a far less intriguing origin story than anagrams, avatars, and voice modulators, our hero was born out of the convenience of having such a boring name, that no one in Hollywood would claim it.

And it's not always just Alan, but occasionally Alana Smithee too. And while each has had their own variation of spellings, Alan and Alana tend to be the "correct" version.

What's Smithee Up to These Days?

Technically, Smithee was retired by the DGA in the late 90s, but he still gets the unofficial mention from time to time. IMDB credits continue to be added even as of the writing of this post. However, with numerous alternative pseudonyms (looking at you, Noah Ward) and directors simply releasing their own "cuts" after the original picture, Smithee can now rest in comparatively comfortable retirement, awaiting resurrection by new film students and internet sleuths.

Since his legacy can't be denied, the next time you see an Alan Smithee film, tip your hat, or raise your Raisinetes, and say "Thank you for your service" to the director with the job no one wants.