An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn

Last updated

An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn
Alan smithee film burn hollywood burn.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Arthur Hiller (as Alan Smithee)
Written by Joe Eszterhas
Produced by Ben Myron
Starring
Cinematography Reynaldo Villalobos
Edited byL. James Langlois
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution (Americas)
Cinergi Productions (International)
Release dates
  • October 1997 (1997-10)(Mill Valley)
  • February 27, 1998 (1998-02-27)(United States)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$10 million[ citation needed ]
Box office$59,921 [1]

An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (stylized on-screen as Burn Hollywood Burn) is a 1997 American mockumentary black comedy film directed by Arthur Hiller, written by Joe Eszterhas and starring Eric Idle as a director unfortunately named Alan Smithee, 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.

Contents

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) at the 19th Golden Raspberry Awards. The film's creation set off a chain of events which led the Directors Guild of America to officially discontinue the Alan Smithee credit in 2000 after its use for decades when an American director disavowed a film. [2] 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. Burn Hollywood Burn was also the final film produced by Cinergi Pictures to be released before the company declared bankruptcy.

Plot

Challenger Films producers Jerry Glover and James Edmunds hire acclaimed English editor Alan Smithee to direct Trio, a blockbuster action film starring Sylvester Stallone, Whoopi Goldberg, and Jackie Chan. 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 Between this and frequent interference from the film's stars, Smithee becomes withdrawn.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, 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 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, who became the first person to win four Golden Raspberry 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, 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.[ citation needed ] In his entry on An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn for his "My Year of Flops" column in The A.V. Club , pop culture critic Nathan Rabin 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". [3]

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. [1]

Critical response

Film critic Roger Ebert, reviewing for the Chicago Sun-Times , 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". [4] In 2005, Ebert included it on his list of most hated films. [5]

The film holds a 7% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 41 reviews, with an average rating of 3.3/10. The site's critical consensus calls it "A witless Hollywood satire whose hammy, obvious jokes are neither funny nor insightful of the movie business." [6] Eric Idle said in various interviews meant to promote the film that "this is rather dreadful".[ citation needed ]

Accolades

Date of CeremonyAwardCategoryRecipientsResultsRef.
1999 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards Worst PictureAn Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (Hollywood Pictures)Nominated [7]
Worst Director Arthur Hiller Nominated
Most Painfully Unfunny ComedyAn Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (Hollywood Pictures)Nominated
Worst On-Screen Hairstyle Joe Eszterhas Won
March 20, 1999 Golden Raspberry Awards Worst Picture An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (Hollywood Pictures)Won [8]
Worst Actor Ryan O'Neal Nominated
Worst Supporting Actor Joe Eszterhas Won
Sylvester Stallone Nominated
Worst Screen Couple Any combination of two people playing themselves (or playing with themselves)Nominated
Worst Director Arthur Hiller (as Alan Smithee)Nominated
Worst Screenplay Joe EszterhasWon
Worst New Star Won
Worst Original Song "I Wanna Be Mike Ovitz!", written by Joe Eszterhas and Gary G-Wiz Won

Related Research Articles

Alan Smithee is an official pseudonym used by film directors who wish to disown a project. Coined in 1968 and used until it was formally discontinued in 2000, it was the sole pseudonym used by members of the Directors Guild of America (DGA) when directors, dissatisfied with the final product, proved to the satisfaction of a guild panel that they had not been able to exercise creative control over a film. The director was also required by guild rules not to discuss the circumstances leading to the movie or even to acknowledge being the project's director.

<i>Showgirls</i> 1995 film by Paul Verhoeven

Showgirls is a 1995 erotic drama film directed by Paul Verhoeven from a script written by Joe Eszterhas and starring Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan, Gina Gershon, Glenn Plummer, Robert Davi, Alan Rachins, and Gina Ravera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Hiller</span> Canadian-American director (1923–2016)

Arthur Hiller, 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 1950s he began directing films, most often comedies. He also directed dramas and romantic subjects, such as Love Story (1970), which was nominated for seven Oscars.

<i>Demolition Man</i> (film) 1993 film by Marco Brambilla

Demolition Man is a 1993 American science fiction action film directed by Marco Brambilla in his directorial debut. It stars Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Sandra Bullock, and Nigel Hawthorne. Stallone is John Spartan, a risk-taking police officer who has a reputation for causing destruction while carrying out his work. After a failed attempt to rescue hostages from evil crime lord Simon Phoenix (Snipes), they are both sentenced to be cryogenically frozen in 1996. Phoenix is thawed for a parole hearing in 2032, but escapes. Society has changed and all violent crime has seemingly been eliminated. Unable to deal with a criminal as dangerous as Phoenix, the authorities awaken Spartan to help capture him again. The story makes allusions to many other works including Aldous Huxley's 1932 dystopian novel Brave New World and H. G. Wells's The Sleeper Awakes.

<i>F.I.S.T.</i> (film) 1978 film by Norman Jewison

F.I.S.T. is a 1978 American neo-noir crime drama film produced and directed by Norman Jewison and starring Sylvester Stallone. Stallone plays a Cleveland warehouse worker who becomes involved in the labor union leadership of the fictional "Federation of Inter-State Truckers" (F.I.S.T.). The film is loosely based on the Teamsters Union and their former President Jimmy Hoffa. The screenplay was by Joe Eszterhas and Stallone, from a story by Eszterhas.

<i>Cliffhanger</i> (film) 1993 American film

Cliffhanger is a 1993 American action thriller film directed and co-produced by Renny Harlin and co-written by and starring Sylvester Stallone alongside John Lithgow, Michael Rooker and Janine Turner. Based on a concept by climber John Long, the film follows Gabe (Stallone), a mountain climber who becomes embroiled in a heist of a U.S. Treasury plane flying through the Rocky Mountains. The film premiered at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival, and was released in the United States on May 28, 1993, by TriStar Pictures. It received positive reviews and earned $255 million worldwide, becoming the 7th highest-grossing film of 1993.

József Antal Eszterhás, 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 the film industry. His first screenwriting credit was for the film F.I.S.T. (1978). He co-wrote the script for Flashdance, which became one of the highest grossing films of 1983, and set off a lucrative and prolific run for his career. By the early 1990s, he was known as the highest-paid writer in Hollywood, and noted for his work in the erotic thriller genre. He was paid a then-record $3 million for his script Love Hurts, which was produced as Basic Instinct (1992), and following its success, news outlets reported he earned seven-figure salaries solely on the basis of two-to-four page outlines.

<i>Death of a Gunfighter</i> 1969 film

Death of a Gunfighter is a 1969 American Western film directed by Robert Totten and Don Siegel. It stars Richard Widmark and Lena Horne. and features an original score by Oliver Nelson. The theme of the film is the "passing" of the West, the clash between a traditional character and the politics and demands of modern society. The film direction is credited to Alan Smithee, a pseudonym used by directors who repudiate their involvement in a film.

<i>Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot</i> 1992 American film by Roger Spottiswoode

Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot is a 1992 American buddy cop action comedy directed by Roger Spottiswoode and starring Sylvester Stallone and Estelle Getty. The film was released in the United States on February 21, 1992. The film received highly negative reviews upon release but grossed $70.6 million worldwide.

<i>Judge Dredd</i> (film) 1995 US superhero film directed by Danny Cannon

Judge Dredd is a 1995 American science fiction action film based on the 2000 AD comics character of the same name. It is directed by Danny Cannon and stars Sylvester Stallone in the title role, a law enforcement officer in the crime-ridden futuristic metropolis of Mega-City One. The film co-stars Armand Assante, Diane Lane, Rob Schneider, Joan Chen, Jürgen Prochnow, and Max von Sydow. It was filmed entirely at Shepperton Studios in the United Kingdom, and released by Buena Vista Pictures on June 30, 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fake Shemp</span> Someone who appears in a film as a replacement for another person

A fake Shemp is a type of body double who appears in a film to replace another actor or person, usually when the original actor has died, or is unable or unwilling to reprise their role. Their appearance is disguised using methods such as heavy make-up, filming from the back, dubbing in audio and splicing in past footage from the original actor's previous work, using a sound-alike voice actor, or using partial shots of the actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinergi Pictures</span> Film production company

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 hit films, most notably Tombstone, Die Hard with a Vengeance and Evita. However, the majority of their films lost money. A string of box office bombs – including Super Mario Bros., Renaissance Man, Color of Night, Judge Dredd, and Burn Hollywood Burn – ultimately did the company in, and it was dissolved in 1998. Cinergi Pictures' library is now owned by Disney.

<i>Jade</i> (film) 1995 American erotic thriller film by William Friedkin

Jade is a 1995 American erotic thriller film written by Joe Eszterhas, produced by Robert Evans, directed by William Friedkin, and starring David Caruso, Linda Fiorentino, Chazz Palminteri, Richard Crenna, and Michael Biehn. The original music score was composed by James Horner based on a song composed by Loreena McKennitt. The film was marketed with the tagline "Some fantasies go too far."

<i>One Night Stand</i> (1997 film) 1997 American drama film by British director Mike Figgis

One Night Stand is a 1997 American drama film written and directed by Mike Figgis. The film stars Wesley Snipes, Nastassja Kinski, Kyle MacLachlan, Ming-Na Wen and Robert Downey Jr. The first draft of the screenplay was written by Joe Eszterhas, who had his name removed from the project following Figgis's rewrite.

Dick Richards is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Known as a storyteller and an "actor’s director", Richards worked with Robert Mitchum, Gene Hackman, Martin Sheen, Blythe Danner, Catherine Deneuve, Alan Arkin, Wilford Brimley, and many others.

<i>Ringmaster</i> (film) 1998 American film

Ringmaster is a 1998 American comedy film starring Jerry Springer as a fictional version of himself named Jerry Farrelly, host of a show similar to his own called Jerry.

Frank Michael Howson was an Australian theatre and film director, screenwriter, and singer. He directed Flynn (1996) on the early life of Errol Flynn and Hunting (1991). Howson, with Peter Boyle, helped establish Boulevard Films which produced thirteen films from Boulevard of Broken Dreams (1988) to Flynn; besides producing for Boulevard Films, Howson often wrote scripts and directed.

Ben Myron is a film producer. His sixteen credits range from low-budget independent films to big-budget studio films.

The Razzie Award for Worst Screenplay is an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards for the worst film screenplay of the past year. The following is a list of nominees and recipients of that award, including each screenplay's author(s).

The Razzie Award for Worst Original Song was an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards for the worst song written for a film in the previous year. The following is a list of recipients and nominees of that award, along with the film for which they were nominated.

References

  1. 1 2 An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn at Box Office Mojo
  2. Wallace, Amy (January 15, 2000). "Name of Director Smithee Isn't What It Used to Be". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  3. Rabin, Nathan. "My Year Of Flops: Inside Hollywood Edition, Case File #109: An Alan Smithee Film: Burn, Hollywood, Burn". The A.V. Club , May 14, 2008. Retrieved November, 2011.
  4. Ebert, Roger (February 27, 1998). "An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn". Chicago Sun-Times . Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  5. Ebert, Roger (August 11, 2005). "Ebert's Most Hated". Chicago Sun Times . Archived from the original on June 28, 2009. Retrieved March 2, 2022. The only way to save this film would be to trim 86 minutes.
  6. An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn at Rotten Tomatoes
  7. "Past Winners Database". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 3, 2007. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  8. Marcus Errico (March 20, 1999). "Razzies Ding Eszterhas, Willis, DiCaprio". E! News. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
Awards
Preceded by Razzie Award for Worst Picture
19th Golden Raspberry Awards
Succeeded by