If you have ever noticed an "Alan Smithee" credit at the beginning or end of a movie then you are seeing honor attributed to a fictional character, a non-living practical joke. Alan Smithee is a pseudonym used by disgruntled directors who wish to be totally disassociated from a film because of disagreements had with the producers or studio. Alan Smithee was first "born" in 1968 and lived a long, full life until his semi-retirement in 2000. (Though it still pops up now and then for miscellaneous reasons)

How did one legally get the right to list an Alan Smithee on the credits? A director had to prove to a panel of Directors Guild of America members as well as Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, that he or she was not given complete creative power over a project as the contract promised. The terms state that the replacement name can be acceptable so as long as the director keeps the reasons over the disagreement mysterious. It takes a lot of guts to use an Alan Smithee credit, especially considering that most directors who use the name are practically unknown and are actually choosing anonymity over moderate recognition.

Here are the top four films by Alan Smithee that are worth forgetting.

4. Allen Smithee's Death of a Gunfighter
The first movie to officially use the pseudonym was Death of a Gunfighter in 1969. Actor Richard Widmark decided that director Robert Totten was not fulfilling his job and replaced him with Don Siegel. (Sucks not to be Stanley Kubrick, huh?) Ironically, by the time the film was completed neither director wanted credit for what they thought was a disastrous production. Al Smith was chosen as a suitable credit name until someone realized that there already was an Al Smith working in Hollywood. The studio lengthened the name to Allen Smithee, whom, ironically, won some enthusiastic reviews from critics.

3.Alan Smithee's Dune
David Lynch's name is replaced by Alan Smithee in some versions of 1984's sci-fi novel adaptation Dune. The production of this film was massive, ultimately requiring six scripts, 80 sets, 1700 crewmembers and a 40 million dollar budget (which was a bodacious thing in the 80s). The final directors cut stood well over three hours long so producers decided to cut the film down to standard running time. The rough cut of the film was over four hours in duration, and director Lynch's intended final cut came in at over three hours long. Some cuts actually involved filming new scenes entirely, which were over simplified and did much more harm than good. As you can imagine, director Lynch wasn't very happy with the end result, nor with the unauthorized television adaptation, which explains the mysterious references still appearing on some collectible VHS tapes and DVD special editions.

2.Humpty Dumpty's American History X
Edward Norton knows how good looking he is and so decided to overpower director Tony Kaye's American History X film, making his own edited cut. This infuriated Kate, who then demanded that his name be removed from the credits and replaced with Alan Smithee. However, the DGA and the studio refused his request, and also his subsequent request of using the name Humpty Dumpty. Why the refusal? Kaye had publicly attacked the film in national publications, which is against the Alan Smithee policy of the DGA. Imagine Humpty Dumpty's Great Fall remaining unattributed!

1.An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn
An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn, 1998's parody of the Alan Smithee legend, was ironically credited to Alan Smithee after director Arthur Hiller disagreed with producer-screenwriter Joe Eszterhas's reediting of the film. Despite being unanimously voted the one of the worst films in movie history, winning multiple Golden Raspberry Awards, and making only $45,779 at the box office (elevating even Ed Wood's profitability) the film still managed to show the industry just how absurd the story behind the pseudonym really is. Because of this film, as well as American History X, the Writers Guild of America officially retired the Alan Smithee credit in 1999.

You may still catch the name appearing in some TV adaptations or music videos. Though Alan Smithee may be deceased, professional shame and petty bickering will always live on in our hearts.