24 films, 60 series, and 39 years of work: No one has ever seen this legendary director before – Cinema News

Flashback sequence. In 2015, Hollywood was rocked by a dark case surrounding the film The Sentinel, directed by Paul Schrader. With Taxi Driver screenwriter Nicolas Cage in front of the camera and Nicolas Winding Refn in production, the film looked promising on paper. But the three men called for a boycott of the film, on the legitimate grounds that Schrader had been stripped of all his work. LionsgateThus, the studio that produced the film hired the director and put the film together behind his back…

Not without a certain irony, Schrader could have summoned – a few years ago – the most famous director of the seventh art. The pseudonym is the prolific man, and he is the author of more than a hundred films, television series, documentaries, music videos, and even video games. its name ? Alan SmitheyIt is a famous pseudonym used by American artists who have disowned their works.

A look back at Hollywood’s 100% virtual masterpiece, as weird and wonderful as can be.

Sacred lineage

He was, in turn, a director, assistant director, screenwriter, actor, producer, art director, visual effects officer, or director of photography. His name appears in over 100 films, TV series, music videos, documentaries and, most surprisingly, even video games. He directed big names in the seventh art, such as Robert De Niro, Max von Sydow, Richard Widmark, Burt Reynolds… in fact, he was so famous that upon his official death at the age of 39 in 1999, he was given a funeral from first class.

“He” of course Alan Smitheyan anagram of “Nick name”the famous pseudonym he invented Directors Guild of Americawhich was resorted to by authors who denied the final version of their work, but retained the right to demand their salaries.

A creativity that resonates as a strange paradox in Uncle Sam’s Country, because through this creativity, it affirms and acknowledges the existence of auteur cinema, while at the same time providing the tools for studios and producers to exercise control over their works. a job.

For a long time, the DGA prohibited its members from using a pseudonym. In the country and dream factory of Hollywood where the producers reign supreme Final cut In business, this action/creation will appear as a lifeline to those who use it.

The West is searching for the missing way out.

The name of theAlan Smithey It first appears (but not under this spelling) in a 1955 television movie, The reckless Mrs. Jarvis. Behind this pseudonym is Frank Burt, the director, who refuses to see his work cut with the scissors of editors and producers in order to fit it into the highly codified boxes of American television.

On the big screen, his birth certificate is later: 1968. That year, Major worldwide A hardened television craftsman, Robert Totten, is entrusted with the production of a Western titled Death of a Gunfighter, with none other than the veteran headliner. Richard Widmark.

After 25 days of filming, which saw the relationship between director and lead actor inevitably deteriorate, the film’s production was abruptly halted. Widmark demands that Totten be replaced, whom he considers incapable.

With the studio’s blessing, Widmark then asked Don Siegel, who didn’t really have the profile of an apprentice. He also has the advantage of having recently managed Widmark at City Police. Siegel spent about ten days on set, essentially putting together the beginning and end of the film.

Below is the trailer for The death of one of the militants (A bunch of lead in French):

The problem is that Siegel refuses to include his name in the credits, and thus refuses to take responsibility for the film’s authorship. As for Robert Totten, he is truly disturbed by this marginalization without warning, and therefore refuses to be credited. Faced with the impossibility of legally exploiting a film without a director in the credits, Universal then appealed to the DGA for arbitration.

The guild suggested the umbrella name “Al Smith”. The problem: By checking its records, the General Directorate of Antiquities realizes that it actually exists. Name changes to “Smith”; Still very close. Finally, Don Siegel suggested “Allen Smithee”, which was chosen.

Over the years, the pseudonym would morph into “Alan Smithee”, an anagram of “The Alias ​​​​​Men”, which would be very officially adopted by the DGA, and used as a last resort in case there were irreconcilable disagreements between the director and the exploited version From his work.

The delicious irony and critical reception of the West The death of one of the militants very good: The New York Times Rent it “Sharp, sharp direction from director Allen Smithee.” ; While the influential film critic Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-TimesHe praises the wonderful work he did Allen Smithey, the director who… [lui] “Not familiar”.

Strict award conditions

However, for the DGA, there is no question of giving the green light with all its might to potential requests to borrow the nickname. The specifications are quite radical. The applicant must build a solid file and present his case before a special committee that studies the subject of the application.

There is no question that a director is allowed to use a pseudonym simply because he is ashamed of his work. If he has already been given the green light to use a pseudonym, the applicant is strictly prohibited from advertising it; In other words, inform the media about the reasons for borrowing the nickname.

In the heart of tensions…

As of 1969, the year the western was released The death of one of the militantsin 1999, a year officially buried by the DGA in the wake of Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn, and highly symbolic examples abound.

The place the pseudonym is most commonly used is in television, when films are edited, removing very violent or sexually explicit scenes, down to truncated dialogue; All of this, of course, without the consent of their creator. Thus David Lynch demanded that his name be removed from his cursed film “Dune” in its television version. William Friedkin did the same for the TV version of The Nurse in 1990.

Universal Pictures

Michael Mann will require the alias for the made-for-TV remasters of Heat and Révélations. Martin Brest also used it in 1998 for the edited version of Meet Joe Black, both for broadcast of the film on airplanes and on cable channels.

Less well known, the nickname has also been used in television series, such as MacGyver in the pilot episode of the first season, as well as the series “broken”, in 1985; Also in Fam Nikita in Episode 16 of Season 4.

The “Twilight Zone” case.

In 1983, the Twilight Zone affair broke out, a movie sketch based on the popular TV series. In the film directed by John Landis, a helicopter crash kills one of the main actors, as well as two children. Landis and other executives of the artistic team, as well as Warner as a legal entity, must answer charges of manslaughter.

The prosecutor offers Anderson House, the second assistant director, a deal: full immunity in exchange for testimony, inevitably convicting him John Landis. On June 24, 1983, the indictment was published.

Obviously the date was not chosen at random: it was the same day as the film’s premiere, which was de facto blown up… If the trial ends in a general acquittal, Anderson House The DGA will be required to use an aliasAlan Smithey Replaced with his real name in the credits of The Twilight Zone. We understand that…

In 1990, Dennis Hopper used the pseudonym Alan Smithey To sign his (failed) sensational film, he had a very good goal: he accused the company that produced the film, Vistron Pictures, to accumulate work behind his back. He took legal action, but it failed and the company went bankrupt.

American History X and the Beginning of the End

In the vast majority of use aliases Alan Smithey It often serves as a cover for works that frankly lean towards narcissism (randomly: Hellraiser: Bloodlines; The Birds 2…). Sometimes, it happens that a nickname comes back into the spotlight to make headlines.

This is the case in 1998 with well-established American history diverse The studio New Line Cinema (a Warner subsidiary) and Edward Norton to foil the last quarter-hour of his film. DGA denies director’s request. The reason is clear: the latter violated the rule of not announcing the reasons for the dispute…

The coup de grâce, brilliant and highly ironic, came the following year, with the release Alan Smithee movie: Hollywood Burn, directed by Arthur Heller. The film, a satire by screenwriter Joe Eszterhas, evokes the story of English director Alan Smithee. Not completely satisfied with his work, he is determined to give it up.

Problem: DGA only has one alias in stock…and that is its name! It is impossible to remove from the sticker! In desperation, he decided to isolate his entire film reels to destroy them…

Hollywood pictures

In addition to the crazy presentation, the film’s fate is absolutely crazy. Her manager, Arthur HellerAccused Joe Eszterhas And Synergy PicturesThe film’s producers refined the film’s editing, to the point of requesting – and obtaining – that the work be produced…Alan Smithey.

Voted the worst film of 1999 by Hollywood critics, it was the subject of deadly ridicule that first embarrassed and then enraged film directors. So much so that the union bangs its fist on the table.

In 1999-2000, he permanently removed Alias ​​from its shelves. Woman Wanted, which was released in 2000 and directed by Kiefer Sutherland, will officially be the last film to be released with the reference “Alan Smithy” To realization.

if Alan Smithey It has been eliminated in cinema, but it remains used in other fields, such as music videos, comics, video games… and in all cases, fields that do not fall within the jurisdiction and authority of God Almighty. Directors Guild of America.

How long will the artist…