Some perspective on the "who directed Poltergeist (1982) " question

A Steven Spielberg Production...

This is the first acknowledgement seen when the closing credits roll at the end of Poltergeist. Of all the numerous films Spielberg has overseen as producer, this is the one and only time, this credit has been ascribed. It seems strange that 'A Tobe Hooper Film' wasn't the first credit given, since he supposedly directed it. However, before the original release of Poltergeist, Spielberg wasn't shy about staking proprietary claim to it. His quotes in an L.A Times article are not vague at all in taking credit for guiding the production. He did everything but pee on the celluloid to mark his territory, and it wouldn't be surprising if he had. His DNA is evident in virtually every frame.

It took a Director's Guild investigation into who actually directed the film to legally pressure him into backtracking his statements. The DGA forced him to post an open letter in Variety magazine to Tobe Hooper in 1982. It stated: "Regrettably some of the press have misunderstood the rather unique, creative relationship which you and I shared throughout the making of 'Poltergeist'. I enjoyed your openness in allowing me, as producer and writer, a wide berth for creative involvement, just as I know you were happy with the freedom you had to direct Poltergeist so wonderfully. Through the screenplay you accepted a vision of this intense movie from the start, and as the director, you delivered the goods. You performed responsibly and professionally throughout, and I wish you great success on your next project.

However, this letter seems a bit insincere and puzzling, when taking into account many first hand observations regarding the film's production in 1981. An excerpt from Poltergeist: The Fan Site http://www.poltergeist.poltergeistiii.com/really.html quotes a member of the Poltergeist film crew who preferred to remain anonymous...
"Our very first shot, on the very first day of principal photography (May 11th 1981) took place on a hilltop overlooking Cuesta Verde. It was the scene where James Karen offers Craig T Nelson a higher position at the realty firm. Tobe's decisions were tentative beyond belief, and it took him a ridiculous amount of time to block the scene... so Spielberg jumped in and did it for him. Having taken that initial step, Spielberg - not Hooper - immediately and forever thereafter found himself answering all pertinent questions from both cast and crew.
Upon completing that scene, our company moved down to the Freeling house. In the backyard Hooper was starting to film Tweety's burial scene and Spielberg was in the front filming the scene of Dirk Blocker peddling his bike and being harassed by the kids with remote control cars. In shooting those backyard & frontyard scenes simultaneously, we were simply trying to pick-up the time that was squandered by Hooper back on the hilltop.
Hooper prepped Poltergeist in pre-production, but Spielberg designed all the storyboards (Although Hooper claims he worked on half of them.) It was Hooper's baby through pre-production. However, from it's first shot , to it's last shot, it was no more Hooper's baby than it was mine. On DAY 1, the key crew personnel were ready to shoot the film they prepared with Tobe Hooper. By lunch time of DAY 1, that whole concept was completely out the window.
It's time to stop the ridiculous lying and half truths involving who directed Poltergeist. In pre-production Poltergeist had one director... in principal photography and post production Poltergeist had a different director. That's just the way it was and will always be. My immediate fear, on the first day, was if our department tasks would completely change from then forward. I, half jokingly, asked Spielberg if I had prepared the film with the wrong person.
He said he would work with what Tobe had decided... although it certainly didn't work out that way. William Finley, who played "Marco The Magnificent" in Hooper's The Funhouse, was originally cast as Marty. As soon as Spielberg took over production he was cast out of the movie and replaced by Martin Casella. As far as Tobe's supposed cocaine use, I can honestly say I never saw him exhibit any tell-tale signs of cocaine use. Steven took the reigns of Poltergeist for the simple reason that Tobe made poor decisions and was much too slow to make decisions of any kind.
For many years now, individuals on the set... including Spielberg & Hooper, have been saying misleading quotes on who directed Poltergeist. So, how, or why is it then, they should all answer in a consistent and uniform manner as to never really identify - beyond a reasonable doubt- who exactly directed the film? They'd all have us believe that Poltergeist is one of those rare instances where, rather innocently, a producer became somewhat "involved" with directorial chores... hence their collective ambiguity on the matter. Was there a collaboration between Tobe and Steven? Of course there was. Still just like 99.9% of all studio films, Poltergeist had one director... and that was Steven. Singularly, he decided every question from all principal cast and and key crew personnel."

David Giler, the producer of "Alien" was an extra in the football scene early in the film, along with Spielberg's agent Guy McElwaine. Quoted in Joesph McBride's book "Steven Spielberg - A Biography," Giler states "When I came back from the set, I said 'Well, now I know what the executive producer does. I've always wondered. He sets up the camera, tells the actors what to do, stands back, and lets the director say 'Action!'" Another person who visited the set told McBride that it was "uncomfortable," since whenever Hooper would give an instruction to cinematographer Matthew F. Leonetti, Leonetti would look over his shoulder at Spielberg, who would either shake his head or nod.

Actress Zelda Rubinstein, who plays the psychic character Tangina, was quoted in an "Ain't It Cool News" interview http://www.aintitcool.com/node/34266 "I can tell you that Steven directed all six days I was there. I only worked six days on the film and Steven was there. Tobe set up the shots and Steven made the adjustments.You’re not going to hear that from Tobe Hooper, you’ll hear it from Zelda, because that was my honest to God experience. I’m not a fan of Tobe Hooper. I feel he allowed… I don’t know how to say this… he allowed some unacceptable chemical agents into his work. I felt that immediately. I felt that when I first interviewed for the job. Steven was there, Tobe was there, two casting people from MGM were there and I felt at that time Tobe was only partially there." As Zelda implies above, persistent rumors about Tobe's alleged substance abuse at the time (and possible entry into rehab after the film finished shooting) have circulated for years. Author John Baxter, in the unauthorized biography "Steven Spielberg," writes on page 250 about cocaine use in Hollywood: "Rumors also spoke of its wide-spread use on the set of Poltergeist." Who was allegedly engaging in this widespread use was left unsaid.

Baxter also interviewed composer Jerry Goldsmith, who stated "I worked only with Steven. One day Hooper came into a screening and sat down. Steve just ignored him, and after five minutes he got up and left." [Goldsmith's] estimate of the shooting: "Hooper said 'Action' and that's the last thing he did." Steven Spielberg's regular film editor Michael Kahn explains why Steven asked him to cut Poltergeist, instead of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, which can be seen here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjdOG-w0Zz4 At the 15:40 mark, Kahn reveals, "Steven actually ended up shooting a lot of stuff on Poltergeist." Taking into consideration the numerous accounts regarding Spielberg seizing control of the production very early, thus regulating Hooper to a marginalized role... his "a lot of stuff" comment seems relatively disingenuous to Steven's actual creative impact on the finished film.

An online article from Birth.Movies.Death.com http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2012/01/08/schlock-corridor-poltergeist-1982-part-ii states that over thirty-three years, since Poltergeist came out and the stories and rumors began swirling, the key to it all lies in an article published before the film was released... an article which would prompt the DGA to investigate the "authorship" of the film. This 1982 LA Times piece feels like the Rosetta Stone of Poltergeist, explaining how Tobe worked with actors and was on set, but found himself operating as an underling of Spielberg. Everybody in this article agrees it was Spielberg that was calling all the shots. Why that was allowed, and why Hooper wasn't just removed (he was, eventually, in post-production) and why Spielberg didn't receive directing credit is answered by a Director's Guild rule. If you fire a director you cannot replace him with someone who is already on the film prior to his firing. That includes the producer. There was also a clause in his contract with Universal Pictures to prevent him from directing another movie while he was in pre-production on E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. The best they could have done was bring in a figurehead to replace Hooper. Spielberg could never receive directing credit and many feel that he was upset by that fact.
Hence the quote in the LA Times article from Spielberg.... "Tobe isn't what you'd call a take-charge sort of guy. He's just not a strong presence on a movie set. If a question was asked and an answer wasn't immediately forthcoming, I'd jump up and say what we could do. Tobe would nod in agreement, and that became the process of the collaboration. I did not want to direct the movie. I had to do 'E.T.' five weeks after principal photography on 'Poltergeist. My enthusiasm for wanting to make Poltergeist would have been difficult for any director I would have hired. It derived from my imagination and my experiences, and it came out of my typewriter. I felt a proprietary interest in the project that was stronger than if I was just an executive producer. I thought I'd be able to turn Poltergeist over to a director and walk away. On future films... if I write it myself, I'll direct it myself. I won't put someone else through what I put Tobe through and I'll be more honest about my contributions to a film."

Doesn't it seem unusual that this iconic horror classic hasn't received any subsequent retrospective "making of" documentaries, considering the talented people involved in the production? Makes you wonder whether there's some legalities involved that are prohibiting this from happening... or maybe it's just to avoid rehashing any controversy regarding the film.
Isn't it strange that after the box office success ($121,706,019) of Poltergeist, Tobe Hooper wouldn't direct another movie for another three years? Usually studio's are knocking down a director's door to immediately line up another project after such a success.

It also seems odd that Hooper's films made right before (1980's The Funhouse) and after (1985's Lifeforce) bear little resemblance to Poltergeist. However, Spielberg's E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, which was filmed directly after, has the same visual characteristics in nearly every scene... from matching shots (varied angles, rapidly edited together, of Elliot screaming in the cornfield when he catches sight of E.T. and of Steven Freeling screaming when The Beast greets him from the closet) to Spielberg's signature low-angle track-in shots which are prevalent in all his films. The dolly zoom used so effectively in Jaws (when Brody witnesses the shark attack from the beach) is repeated in both E.T. & Poltergeist, which can be seen in this clip from a Slate.com article at the 1:57 mark...http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/01/21/dolly_zoom_supercut_video_shows_the_vertigo_effect_in_jaws_goodfellas_raging.html All of the hallmark visuals that Spielberg is known for are copiously on display throughout Poltergeist... http://www.lavideofilmmaker.com/filmmaking/steven-spielberg-film-techniques.html

Perhaps, moving forward, a meaningful re-evaluation of Poltergeist as "A Steven Spielberg Film" is in order when discussing either director's respective filmographies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAF88S-jj3Y