User:Aleister/Alan Smithee
One of the greatest movie directors in the history of film, Alan Smithee (also Allen Smithee) has directed more than 50 feature films in his 40+ year career. Known as "The director other directors never want to meet", Smithee churns out flop after flop and can never seem to land his name on a megahit.
Career[edit | edit source]
Smithee's first job in the movie industry was at Warner Bros. where he worked as a tripod for the immortal William "One Shot" Beaudine on several of the wildly popular Torchy Blane films. From there he worked his way up to assistant gaffer at Monogram and, in 1955, got his first big break substituting for famed cinematographer Arnie Ellis II after he was mauled by a sloth on the set of Tarzan Beds Bonzo.
From there Smithee went on to direct so many dismal failures that his luck seemed to have run out when he was born. There was that one time that Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro tried making a film together, and although the big names of the two carried the pubicity, Smithee directed it so it was assured a one-week run. Francis Ford Coppola had planned to direct "Godfather III" but when he got to the set, Smithee had already made it. And when Lindsay Lohan pretended to be Elizabeth Taylor in a recent film, she insisted that Smithee direct.
Filmography[edit | edit source]
- Beach Wet Blanket Mingo (1957)
- Reform School Helldogs (1958)
- Mars Needs Elvis (1959)
- Illegal aliens from outer space! (1959)
- The Hooded Anus (1961)
- Hillbilly Hijinks (1963)
- Come Back, Farley Granger! (1964)
- With Four You Get Pigs Feet (1965)
- Holy Crap! It's a Giant Lobster! (1965½)
- Chuck Winsor: Park Ranger (TV) (1966)
- The Eerie Area (TV) (1967)
- Godbother! (1968)
- Emmet Otterstein's Jug-Band Hanukkah (1969)
- Motorcycle Mamas In Chains (1973)
- Hands Up, Honky! (1974)
- Kung-Fu Death-Cheaters (1974)
- Messy Jill, Goofy Bill (1975)
- Galaxy Fighters (1976)
- Galaxy Fighters II: Payback (1978)
- He's A Behind You! (1980)
- Galaxy Fighters III: The Empire's New Hope (1981)
- Revenge of the Guy Behind You! (1982)
- Death Exterminator II (1985)
- Big Big Guns (1986)
- Ernest Goes to Rehab (1987)
- Passion of the Goodfellas (1990)
- A Milli Vanilli Christmas (TV) (1988)
- Saigon Surprise (1989)
- Plop Plop, Fizz Fizz - The Movie! (1990)
- Pulp Muppets (1994)
- American π (1999)
- Dude, Where's My Toilet? (2000)
- Super Troopers (2001)
- Pirates of the Caribbean (2003)
- Fire Hydrant 2: Rehydrated (2007)
- The Uncyclopedia Movie (2006)
- Ni Hao, Kai-Lan (TV) (2008-)
- Withnail & I (2009)