 |
Monte HimmelmanAmerican film director, screenwriter, actor, film producer and editor
Date of Birth: 12.07.1932
Country:  USA |
Content:
- Monte Hellman: Maverick Filmmaker and Collaborator
- Early Career and Collaboration with Roger Corman
- Westerns and 'Acid Westerns'
- Highway to the Cult
- Later Years
- Legacy and Recent Work
Monte Hellman: Maverick Filmmaker and Collaborator
Early Life and EducationMonte Hellman was born in New York City to parents originally from Missouri. His interest in photography, filmmaking, and theater emerged at a young age. At just ten years old, he staged a play he wrote at a summer camp.
Hellman pursued a degree in theater arts at Stanford University, where he participated in productions of "War of the Worlds" and "The Cherry Orchard." He later studied filmmaking at UCLA for a year and a half.
Early Career and Collaboration with Roger Corman
In 1952, Hellman co-founded a small theater company in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1955, he married actress Barbara Morris and moved to Los Angeles, where he found work in the editing department of ABC.
A pivotal moment in Hellman's career came in 1958 when he joined Roger Corman's newly formed production company, Filmgroup. Corman's strategy of shooting multiple films quickly and on a shoestring budget had a lasting influence on Hellman's minimalist filmmaking style.
Hellman's first film with Corman was the 1959 horror flick "Beast from Haunted Cave," which proved to be a valuable learning experience. He directed a number of low-budget films for Corman, including "The Terror" (1963), which he took over from Francis Ford Coppola.
Westerns and 'Acid Westerns'
In 1965, Hellman joined forces with Jack Nicholson to write and direct two westerns, "Ride in the Whirlwind" and "The Shooting." These films achieved considerable success in Europe, particularly in France. "The Shooting," co-written by Carol Eastman, is credited with being one of the first examples of the "acid western" genre.
Highway to the Cult
"Two-Lane Blacktop"In the early '70s, Hellman directed "Two-Lane Blacktop," a minimalist road movie starring James Taylor. Despite critical acclaim, the film flopped at the box office but has since become a cult favorite.
Later Years
Hellman continued to direct and edit films throughout the '70s and '80s, including "Cockfighter" (1974), "China 9, Liberty 37" (1978), and "The Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 3: Better Watch Out!" (1989).
In 1987, Hellman received a Bastone Bianco Award at the Venice Film Festival for his work on "Iguana," a film that remained largely unreleased. He later served as second unit director on the action classic "RoboCop" (1987).
Legacy and Recent Work
Monte Hellman is renowned for his contributions to independent cinema and exploitation filmmaking. Although many of his films were not commercial successes, they have gained cult followings and critical reevaluation over time.
In 2010, Hellman returned to feature filmmaking with "Road to Nowhere," which premiered at the Venice Film Festival. He currently teaches film directing at the California Institute of the Arts.
Hellman's impact on the film industry extends beyond his own work. He mentored and collaborated with numerous future filmmakers, including Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, and Quentin Tarantino. His influence on minimalist filmmaking and the "acid western" genre remains significant.
