Source link : https://las-vegas-news.com/12-directors-who-had-their-names-removed-from-their-own-films/
Most directors want their names on the movies they make. A small number of them have asked for the opposite, and the reason is usually a fight over who controlled the final cut.
Many of these cases involve the Directors Guild of America’s long-standing pseudonym, Alan Smithee, which was used for decades. The guild retired it after the 1997 film about it became a joke in its own right. The twelve stories below come from different eras and studios. They share one thing: a filmmaker who didn’t recognize the finished film as theirs.
Don Siegel and Death of a Gunfighter
Death of a Gunfighter, released in 1969, is widely cited as the first film credited to Allen Smithee. Robert Totten began directing it, and star Richard Widmark clashed with him. Siegel was brought in to finish the job.
Neither man wanted sole credit for the result. The Directors Guild approved the pseudonym, and the name stayed in use for about three decades afterward.
Dennis Hopper and Catchfire
Dennis Hopper made the 1990 thriller Catchfire, and the studio re-edited it heavily without his approval. He asked that his name come off, and the film was credited to Alan Smithee in its theatrical form. A longer version later circulated under Hopper’s own name as Backtrack.
The case is useful because both versions exist. Viewers can compare the studio cut with the director’s…
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Author : Matthias Binder
Publish date : 2026-11-06 08:44:00
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