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''An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn'' (stylized on-screen as ''Burn Hollywood Burn'') is a 1997 American
mockumentary A mockumentary (a portmanteau of ''mock'' and ''documentary'') is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events, but presented as a Documentary film, documentary. Mockumentaries are often used to analyze or comment on current event ...
black comedy film Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...
directed by
Arthur Hiller Arthur Hiller, (November 22, 1923 – August 17, 2016) was a Canadian television and film director with over 33 films to his credit during a 50-year career. He began his career directing television in Canada and later in the U.S. By the late ...
, written by
Joe Eszterhas József Antal Eszterhás (; born November 23, 1944), credited as Joe Eszterhas, is a Hungarian-American writer. Born in Hungary, he grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. After an early career as a journalist and editor, he entered t ...
and starring
Eric Idle Eric Idle (born 29 March 1943) is an English actor, comedian, songwriter, musician, screenwriter and playwright. He was a member of the British comedy group Monty Python and the parody rock band the Rutles. Idle studied English at Pembroke Co ...
as a director unfortunately named
Alan Smithee Alan Smithee (also Allen Smithee) is an official pseudonym used by film directors who wish to disown a project. Coined by the Directors Guild of America in 1968 and used until it was largely discontinued in 2000, it was the sole pseudonym used by ...
, a traditional pseudonym used in Hollywood for directors disowning a project. The film follows Smithee as he steals the negatives to his latest film and goes on the run. ''An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn'' was universally panned by critics and tanked at the box office. It won five awards (including
Worst Picture The Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Picture is a prize at the annual Razzies to the worst film of the past year. Over the 45 ceremonies that have taken place, 232 films have been nominated for Worst Picture, with three ties resulting in 48 winn ...
) at the
19th Golden Raspberry Awards The 19th Golden Raspberry Awards were held on March 20, 1999, at the Huntley Hotel Garden Room in Santa Monica, California, to recognize the worst movie industry had to offer in 1998. Awards and nominations File:Gus Van Sant-1345.jpg, Gus Van ...
. The film's creation set off a chain of events which led the
Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of Film director, film and Television director, television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Dir ...
to officially discontinue the Alan Smithee credit in 2000 after its use for decades when an American director disavowed a film. The plot, about a director attempting to disown a film, described the film's own production; Hiller requested that his name be removed after witnessing the final cut, and he is credited as Alan Smithee. ''An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn'' was also the final film produced by
Cinergi Pictures Cinergi Pictures Inc. was an American independent film production company founded by Andrew G. Vajna in 1989, after he had sold his interest in his first production company, Carolco International Pictures. The company had a number of major h ...
to be released before the company declared bankruptcy.


Plot

Challenger Films president Jerry Glover and producer James Edmunds hire acclaimed English editor Alan Smithee to direct ''Trio'', a blockbuster action film starring
Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Gardenzio "Sly" Stallone (; born July 6, 1946) is an American actor and filmmaker. In a Sylvester Stallone filmography, film career spanning more than fifty years, Stallone has received List of awards and nominations received by Syl ...
,
Whoopi Goldberg Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ...
, and
Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born Chan Kong-sang; 7 April 1954), known professionally as Jackie Chan,; is a Hong Kong actor and filmmaker, known for his slapstick, acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, and innovative stunts, which he typically perf ...
. Though only hired due to his inexperience, which the producers believe will make him controllable, Smithee becomes invested in the project. Edmunds makes frequent changes to the film, hiring many additional writers to retool the script and giving Smithee frequent notes during production. Between this and frequent interference from the film's stars, Smithee becomes withdrawn. Edmunds hires prostitute Michelle Rafferty to seduce a drunken Smithee, who is in an unhappy marriage, so he can acquire blackmail material. Michelle is captivated by Smithee's kind spirit, and develops feelings for him. Smithee realizes he has lost control over ''Trio'', and voices his concerns to Edmunds, who advises him to take his name off the film and use the DGA pseudonym - which he cannot do, as it is also 'Alan Smithee.' After Stallone requests they cut one of Chan's lines in the film, Smithee offers to make the edit and drop the master off at the lab for duplication, instead stealing it and running away. As Challenger instructs security foreman Sam Rizzo to organize a search for Smithee, he calls into
Larry King Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger; November 19, 1933 – January 23, 2021) was an American TV and radio host presenter, author, and former spokesman. He was a WMBM radio interviewer in the Miami area in the 1950s and 1960s and beginning in ...
, and in the middle of a mental breakdown, announces his intention to burn the film so it may not be released. At a gas station, he is spotted by Stagger Lee, a member of the African American Guerilla Film Family, whom he quickly befriends. Smithee is put in touch with famed indie directors the Brothers brothers, who relate to his plight and schedule a meeting with Glover and Edmunds to negotiate. Glover offers the brothers a three-picture deal if they return the master as-is, but they refuse, insisting that Smithee be given final cut on ''Trio''. Though claiming to accept this offer, Glover has Rizzo follow the brothers back to their house, where the police search for the master. Smithee exits through a back window and drives to the La Brea Tar Pits, where he finally burns the film as promised. He appears on Larry King again, in-person, to defend his actions, explaining that "they killed 'Trio'' I ended its suffering." Attorney Robert Shapiro negotiates for Smithee to be sent to a psychiatric hospital in England in lieu of criminal charges, as the King interview has led Smithee to be regarded as a hero by the public. Glover and Edmunds compete in a bidding war with producer
Robert Evans Robert Evans (born Robert J. Shapera; June 29, 1930 – October 26, 2019) was an American film producer who worked on ''Rosemary's Baby (film), Rosemary's Baby'' (1968), ''Love Story (1970 film), Love Story'' (1970), ''The Godfather'' (1972), ...
to secure Smithee's life story for a film adaptation, which Smithee sells on the condition that the Brothers brothers direct with final cut. The producers decide that Smithee, with his newfound reputation, is now a valuable property, and offer him a film deal. At the hospital, Michelle reconciles with Smithee as he discusses plans for his new film, ''Duo.''


Cast

Cameos as themselves


Production

The film was written (and produced, though he was not credited for it) by
Joe Eszterhas József Antal Eszterhás (; born November 23, 1944), credited as Joe Eszterhas, is a Hungarian-American writer. Born in Hungary, he grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. After an early career as a journalist and editor, he entered t ...
, who became the first person to win four
Golden Raspberry The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic failures. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, the Razzi ...
awards for a single film: Worst Picture, Worst Screenplay and both Worst Supporting Actor and Worst New Star for a brief cameo appearance (he also received a co-nomination for the Worst Screen Couple award, since ''An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn'' was nominated for "any two people appearing together onscreen"; although the movie did not "win" in this category). The released film credits the Alan Smithee pseudonym as director because
Arthur Hiller Arthur Hiller, (November 22, 1923 – August 17, 2016) was a Canadian television and film director with over 33 films to his credit during a 50-year career. He began his career directing television in Canada and later in the U.S. By the late ...
, the film's real director, objected to the way Eszterhas recut the film, and as a result, had his name removed. In his autobiography, ''Hollywood Animal'', Eszterhas claims that Hiller still sat in the editing room with him to make certain suggestions. In his entry on ''An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn'' for his "
My Year of Flops ''My Year of Flops'' (subtitled ''The A.V. Club Presents One Man's Journey Deep Into the Heart of Cinematic Failure'') is a 2010 book by film critic Nathan Rabin based on his columns on the website ''The A.V. Club''. Background Starting in 2007, ...
" column in ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
'', pop culture critic
Nathan Rabin Nathan Rabin () is an American film and music critic. Rabin was the first head writer for ''The A.V. Club'', a position he held until he left the ''Onion'' organization in 2013.
sarcastically commented that Hiller's decision to use the Alan Smithee credit was "very transparently not a stupid, stupid gimmick to raise interest in a terrible film".


Reception


Box office

The film had an estimated budget of $10 million and grossed at least $52,850, as it was released in only 19 theaters.


Critical response

The film was critically savaged upon release. Film critic
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
, reviewing for the ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
'', gave ''An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn'' a score of zero stars, his lowest possible rating. The film was not merely bad but "incompetent", Ebert wrote, and also seemingly represented a lapse of judgment for Eszterhas who "is sometimes a good writer". In 2005, Ebert included it on his list of most hated films. Eric Idle said in various interviews meant to promote the film that "this is rather dreadful".


Accolades


See also

* '' The Studio'' * '' The Player'' (1992)


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn, An 1997 films American mockumentary films 1990s English-language films Films directed by Arthur Hiller Films credited to Alan Smithee Films about Hollywood, Los Angeles Films about film directors and producers Films set in Kent Films set in Los Angeles Films shot in California Films shot in Los Angeles Films about incest Cinergi Pictures films Hollywood Pictures films Films with screenplays by Joe Eszterhas Golden Raspberry Award–winning films Films about filmmaking 1990s American films