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Alan Smithee is an artiste like no other -- in fact, he's not a real person at all. Rather, Smithee is the pseudonym filmmakers use when they don't want to be associated with their creations. With so many starving artists in the world, why would a director prefer anonymity to fame? It's usually because either they think the film's an embarrassment or they're ticked off because the studio edited their three-hour epic down to an audience-friendly 90 minutes. According to Specters of Legitimacy, Smithee's first confirmed film was 1969's Death of a Gunfighter. The story of how the fictitious director came to "exist" is quite an interesting one. Gunfighter was originally directed by Robert Totten, but due to "artistic differences" with star Richard Widmark, Totten was replaced by Don Siegel (who would later go on to direct Dirty Harry). When the film was completed, Siegel's name was scheduled to be on the credits but he refused, stating that Totten directed more of the film than he did. Well, somebody's name had to be on the screen. It was eventually decided to credit a man who couldn't refuse the honor. And, voila, "Alan Smithee" was born. He's been churning out schlock ever since, directing everything from episodes of MacGyver to the little-seen Bloodsucking Pharaohs in Pittsburgh. No matter what the medium, when you see "Directed by Alan Smithee" in the credits, prepare yourself for a long night.
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