"Rudy" directed by Alan Smithee (1 Viewer)

[Greg_S_H]

I saw Rudy starting up on regular TV today, and I was shocked to see direction credited to "Alan Smithee." A look at the IMDb shows that it is only the TV version that carries said credit, since David Anspaugh disowned the TV cut. Does anyone have any insight into this? Is this a common practice? While we're at it, have there been any award-winning/popular films with the Alan Smithee credit on all versions of the film (not just the TV cut), and is it true that the name is no longer allowed? What happens when a director wants to disavow a film now if it is true?

 

[Sean Laughter]

Alan Smithee is the standard name attached to a film when a director doesn't want to be associated with it, or wants their name taken off of a specific cut, like the really long TV-cut of "Dune."

 

[Damin J Toell]

and is it true that the name is no longer allowed? What happens when a director wants to disavow a film now if it is true?

It's true. The Director's Guild decided that the name became too well-known, thereby drawing attention to the fact that the film had some sort of problem. One of the DGA's requirements to have a director's name removed from the film is that the director cannot speak publicly about the reasons for the name removal (this is why Tony Kaye was unable to have his name removed from American History X). Since "Alan Smithee" is so obvious now, the use of the name itself makes it obvious that a problem existed. Now, when a director wants his name taken off of a film, an invented name will be used on a case-by-case basis. The one case of this so far that I know of is Supernova, which was directed by the fictitious "Thomas Lee."

DJ

 

[Greg_S_H]

Sean,

Reviewing my post, I see I wasn't clear in stating that I wondered if it was common for the name to be used for TV edits. I knew about them for feature films, but had never encountered it with a TV cut. Interesting to hear about Dune.

Damin,

It's interesting that they changed it, and it makes sense. I do wonder what's wrong with a film when it has that credit (that's why I was surprised to see the credit used for "Rudy," which I consider to be a perfectly fine film). Now, the majority of moviegoers will not know anything has happened. It'll just rate a trivia/alternate versions listing on the IMDb, and only those interested in film minutia will even know about it.

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

Damin - I too had heard that Alan Smithee had been banned, and wondered why. But I never got around to trying to find out why. That was a very logical reason, so thanks for that.

 

[Peter Kline]

Here's a partial list of films by this prolific director, along with a short bio:

Films of Alan Smithee

 

[Rob P S]

TNT has two different versions of Rudy - the Alan Smithee version runs for two hours and is heavily cut and time-compressed. The David Anspaugh version runs for 21/2 hours and was shown on Thanksgiving morning. Some changed words, but I didn't notice any major scenes missing.

 

[Peter Kline]

In 1997 Arthur Hiller directed a film called "Alan Smithee Film - Burn Hollywood Burn". The film was so bad, that Hiller had his name removed as director to be replaced by.... you know!

Go here for some info:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118577/

 

[Jesse Skeen]

I heard the TV version of "Heat" was also directed by Alan Smithee- Michael Mann asked that it be shown with additional scenes to pad out a 4-hour running time, instead it was cut down to run with commercials in less time than the movie ran by itself! (Plus the usual content censoring, and shown in pan and scan with an onscreen NBC logo in every scene!)
I think "Hellraiser: Bloodline" was the most widely-released Alan Smithee film- also the first in Dolby Digital.

 

[Scott Weinberg]

Alan Smithee's Morgan Stewart's Coming Home is one I actually saw in the movies!

 

[Peter Kline]

Rare photo of Mr. Smithee

More info is here.

 

[Chris Farmer]

It sure would suck if a real person named Allen Smithee ever decides to become a director. Then again, he does start with a quite prolific (if uninspiring) body of work.

 

[Damin J Toell]

It sure would suck if a real person named Allen Smithee ever decides to become a director.

This is part of the premise of Burn Hollywood Burn. A director named Alan Smithee makes a blockbuster film that the studio takes out of his hands. He wants his name taken off, but, of course, that would just mean keeping his name on, anyway. FWIW, the DGA blames the Burn Hollywood Burn with making the Alan Smithee name too popular.

DJ