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Monte Hellman

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Monte Hellman
Hellman in 2013
Born
Monte Jay Himmelman

(1929-07-12)July 12, 1929
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedApril 20, 2021(2021-04-20) (aged 91)
Palm Desert, California, U.S.
EducationLos Angeles High School
Alma materStanford University
Occupation(s)Film director, writer, producer, editor
SpouseBarboura Morris (1954–1958)[1]

Monte Hellman /ˈmɔːnti/ (born Monte Jay Himmelman;[2] July 12, 1929 – April 20, 2021) was an American film director, producer, writer, and editor. Hellman began his career as an editor's apprentice at ABC TV, and made his directorial debut with the horror film Beast from Haunted Cave (1959), produced by Roger Corman.

He would later gain critical recognition for the Westerns The Shooting and Ride in the Whirlwind (both 1966) starring Jack Nicholson, and the independent road movie Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) starring James Taylor and Dennis Wilson. His later directorial work included the 1989 slasher film Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out! and the independent thriller Road to Nowhere (2010).

Early life

Monte Hellman was born July 12, 1929, in New York City to Gertrude (née Edelstein) and Fred Himmelbaum,[3] who were vacationing in New York at the time of his birth.[4] The family ended up settling in Albany, New York, before relocating to Los Angeles, California, when Hellman was 5 years old.[5]

Hellman graduated from Los Angeles High School, and attended Stanford University, graduating in 1951. He then attended graduate school at the University of California, Los Angeles, but did not complete his studies.[5]

Career

Hellman was among a group of directing talent mentored by Roger Corman, who produced several of the director's early films. Hellman began by working on "low budget exploitation films with a personal slant," yet learned from Corman the art of producing commercially viable films on a tight budget while staying true to a personal vision.[6] Hellman's most critically acclaimed film is considered to be Two-Lane Blacktop (1971), a road movie that was a box-office failure at the time of its initial release but, according to Danny Peary in 1981, it has become a perennial cult favorite.[7] Hellman's two acid westerns starring Jack Nicholson, Ride in the Whirlwind and The Shooting, both shot in 1965 and premiered at festivals in 1966 before being widely released directly to television in 1968, have also developed followings, particularly the latter.[7] Hellman and his stuntman, Gary Kent, talk about the making of the westerns in the 2018 documentary Danger God aka Love and Other Stunts.[8] A third western, China 9, Liberty 37 (1978), was far less successful critically, although it too has its admirers,[9] as do Cockfighter (1974) (aka Born to Kill)[10] and Iguana (1988).[11] In 1989, he directed the straight-to-video slasher film Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out!

In addition to his directorial career, Hellman worked on several films in different capacities. He was the dialogue director for Corman's The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967), and second-unit director on Paul Verhoeven's RoboCop (1987). Hellman finished two pictures in post-production that were started by other directors who died after the movies were shot, the Muhammad Ali bio The Greatest (1977) (started by Tom Gries) and Avalanche Express (1979) (begun by Mark Robson). He shot extra footage for the television versions of Ski Troop Attack (1960), Last Woman on Earth (1960), Creature from the Haunted Sea, and Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars (1964). Among the movies on which Hellman served as editor are Corman's The Wild Angels (1966), Bob Rafelson's Head (1968), Sam Peckinpah's The Killer Elite (1975) and Jonathan Demme's Fighting Mad (1976).[citation needed] He also was an executive producer on Quentin Tarantino's debut feature Reservoir Dogs (1992).[12]

In 2006, he directed "Stanley's Girlfriend," a section of the omnibus horror film Trapped Ashes. Hellman's section of the film was presented by the Cannes Film Festival that year as an "Official Selection," and Hellman was named president of the festival's Un Certain Regard jury.

In 2010, he completed a new feature film, the romantic noir thriller Road to Nowhere, which competed for the Golden Lion at the 67th Venice International Film Festival.[13]

At the 2010 Venice Film Festival, he was awarded a special career prize.[14][15]

As of 2011, he taught with the Film Directing Program at the California Institute of the Arts.[16]

Death

Hellman sustained a fall at his home on April 19, 2021. In critical condition, he died the next day at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California, at the age of 91.[17]

Filmography

Year Title Notes
1959 Beast from Haunted Cave director[18]
1964 Flight to Fury director, story and editor[18]
Back Door to Hell director[18]
1965 Ride in the Whirlwind director and producer[18]
1966 The Shooting director and director[18]
1971 Two-Lane Blacktop director and editor[18]
1974 Cockfighter director[18]
1978 China 9, Liberty 37
1981 Inside the Coppola Personality documentary short[19]
1988 Iguana director[18]
1989 Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out! director[18]
2006 Trapped Ashes director of segment: "Stanley's Girlfriend"[18]
2010 Road to Nowhere director and producer[18]
2013 Vive l'amour short, for Venezia 70 Future Reloaded initiative[20]

Other work

References

  1. ^ McGilligan, Patrick (1996). Jack's Life: A Biography of Jack Nicholson. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 94. ISBN 9780393313789. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
  2. ^ "MONTE HELLMAN". Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  3. ^ "Monte Hellman (1932–)". Film Reference. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  4. ^ Dixon 2007, p. 98.
  5. ^ a b Dixon 2007, p. 100.
  6. ^ Wheeler Winston Dixon, Rutgers University Press, Jul 11, 2007, Film Talk: Directors at Work, Retrieved November 10, 2014 (see page xi Introduction paragraph 2), ISBN 978-0-8135-4077-1
  7. ^ a b Peary, Danny (1981). Cult Movies. Delacorte Press. pp. 363–365. OCLC 1148816096.
  8. ^ Savlov, Marc (June 1, 2018). "Gary Kent Is One of the Last of the Dangerous Men". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  9. ^ Wells, Ron. "China 9, Liberty 37". Film Threat. Retrieved September 21, 2006.
  10. ^ "Cockfighter". DVD Beaver. Retrieved September 21, 2006.
  11. ^ Thompson, Nathaniel. "The Films of Monte Hellman". Mondo Digital. Retrieved September 21, 2006.
  12. ^ Fitzmaurice, Larry. "Quentin Tarantino: The Complete Syllabus of His Influences and References". Slate. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  13. ^ "Venezia 67". labiennale.org. July 29, 2010. Retrieved July 29, 2010.
  14. ^ "Quentin Tarantino denies Venice nepotism claim". BBC. September 13, 2010.
  15. ^ "Official Awards of the 67th Venice Film Festival". La Biennale.
  16. ^ "Cult filmmaker Monte Hellman talks about 'Two-Lane Blacktop' and 'Road to Nowhere' in exclusive Indie Ethos interview". Independent Ethos. June 20, 2011. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
  17. ^ Gray, Tim; Gray, Tim (April 20, 2021). "Monte Hellman, 'Two-Lane Blacktop' Director, Dies at 91". Variety. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Monte Hellman". British Film Institute. Retrieved April 21, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  19. ^ Stevens, Brad (June 28, 2010). Monte Hellman: His Life and Films. McFarland. ISBN 9780786481880.
  20. ^ Venezia 70 Future Reloaded - Monte Hellman, retrieved September 17, 2019
  21. ^ Phillips, Keith (November 10, 1999). "Monte Hellman – Two-Lane revisted (sic)". The Onion. Retrieved May 7, 2012.

Bibliography

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