Films hated by their own directors

It’s not a great time to be a director in Hollywood. Last week, the director of the upcoming ‘Judge Dredd’ film was ordered away from the editing suite following ‘creative differences’. Then a few days later, Jim Sheridan said he wants his name removed from ‘Dream House’.

The film - which stars recently-married couple Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz - tested poorly, prompting reshoots and further edits. It lead director Jim Sheridan to request his name be removed entirely, while  Craig and Weisz have also refused to do any publicity for the film.

It’s not the first time a film has been disowned by its director, but it doesn’t happen often. We take a look at a handful...

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American History X

If a director wants nothing to do with a film you expect it to be at least a little bit rubbish. You do not expect it to be Oscar nominated, as ‘American History X’ was in 1998. Director Tony Kaye (it was his first feature film) strenuously objected cuts made by the studio and star Edward Norton. He tried (and failed) to have the film credited to Alan Smithee, a pseudonym that used to be used in Hollywood for films whose directors are either fired or want their name removed. He also tried ‘Humpty Dumpty’, which was just weird.

Death of a Gunfighter

One of Alan Smithee’s earliest efforts, this western had two directors. The first, Robert Totten was replaced by Don Siegel because lead actor Richard Widmark was unhappy with his work. The second director spent a lot less time on the film, so neither wanted a credit. The Directors Guild of America ruled that the film did not represent Totten or Siegel’s vision, so gave it to Smithee.

Alien³

David Fincher didn’t go as far as to remove his name from his directorial debut, but he’s not a fan. The film’s production was marred by its constantly re-written scripts - there were four finished screenplays before the final draft was bashed out. One, written by Vincent Ward, was famously set on a wooden monastery floating in space. As a result the film’s all over the place, despite great visuals and a strong cast. Fincher was the only ‘Alien’ director not to take part in the ‘Quadrilogy’ DVD release.

Hellraiser: Bloodline

The fourth film in the classic *cough* horror series had a director who actually wanted to do something original with the concept, so he was naturally shot down by the studio. Kevin Yagher wanted more story and less Pinhead, so cuts were made behind his back and he quit before the final scenes were finished. Joe Chappelle was brought on to finish filming. The final film was credited to Alan Smithee.

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Catchfire

Dennis Hopper directed this film starring himself and a young Jodie Foster, but abandoned it before it even hit cinemas after Vestron pictures re-edited it on the sly. This was another film credited to Alan Smithee but Hopper did later release his own cut for television. Weirdly, he called it ‘Backtrack’, which still gives us no clue as to what the film is actually about.

Heat, Dune, Show Girls & Meet Joe Black (kind of)

It’s not just bargain bin efforts films that have Alan Smithee’s shadow looming over them. These films all made it to cinema with directors not just on board, but, in the case of ‘Heat’, rightly proud of their work (less so 'Show Girls'). When the movies were edited for television though or, in ‘Meet Joe Black’s’ case, as an in-flight movie, they adopted Smithee as director. 

Solar Crisis

At least the title of ‘Solar Crisis’ tells us what the film is about, unlike ‘Catchfire’. It’s still a shocker though, and one of the lowest rated films on IMDB. Made in 1990, ‘Crisis’ had a multi-million dollar budget and remarkably starred Charlton Heston.  However, the script was so bad no amount of money or star power could save it, and the film was a massive failure. Tally up one more film for Smithee.

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An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn

Prepare yourselves, things are about to get ‘Meta’. ‘Burn Hollywood Burn’ is a film about a director called Alan Smithee (played by Eric Idle) who hates his latest film so much that he wants his directing credit removed. He finds out that the only name available to use as a replacement is… you guessed it, Alan Smithee. Shenanigans ensue.

And yet it goes deeper. The original director Arthur Hiller was so distraught by the finished film that, well, you don’t need me to tell you what happened. Was it all some kind of elaborate marketing ploy? No, it was a terrible, terrible movie. Even more ironically, the film made the DGA to discontinue the use of the ‘Smithee’ credit.