Although their films are quite different, I thought a topic about Monte Hellman wouldnīt be out of place in this blog, as Hellman was supposed to shoot Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid and served as an editor on The Killer Elite. Peckinpah acted in his China 9, Liberty 37. Hellman was also a good friend of Warren Oates whom he cast in most of his films until Oatesī death in 1982.
Main filmography - DVDs
Beast from haunted cave - 1959
Roger Corman hired Monte Hellman after seeing his production of Waiting for Godot (which, once again, shows Cormanīs good taste). It was shot back to back (as was Cormanīs frequent policy) with Ski troop attack.
By no means a great film, it has some odd, interesting moments - it has often been noted that it could have called Beast from Platoīs cave...
It has been issued by various cheap companies dealing with public domain films, often in rather bad quality. The DVD I have is this one :
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Flight to fury - 1964
Another Roger Corman production. Hellman shot this with Jack Nicholson, back to back with Back door to hell, in the Phillipines, this one being the more interesting of the two. It has nice dialogues about death and a storyline which hints towards Hellmanīs later masterpieces.
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Back door to hell - 1964
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Ride in the whirlwind - 1965
Still another Roger Corman production. Hellman and Nicholson wanted Corman to produce a film they wrote called Epitaph which dealt with abortion. Corman found the script too "European" and offered to produce two westerns instead. Hellman shot this back to back with The Shooting. Both are, in my view, absolute masterpieces.
Tarantino called this one the five best westerns ever made. But I'm not sure I apreciate it for the same reasons as he does...
The DVD I have is part of a French box with The Shooting and Cockfighter, which also includes a wonderfull documentary called Plunging on alone, probably the best on Hellman, with a lot to say on filmmaking in general. I understand there are some american releases which could include Hellman's audio commentary. That would be interesting. Some advice, anyone?
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The Shooting - 1965
Hellman's first collaboration with Warren Oates. Absolutely great.
Two-Lane Blacktop - 1971
Another masterpiece. This one was shot for Universal as part of their project of five semi-independent small budget films, after the success of Easy Rider (the other films were The Last Movie, Taking Off, American Graffiti and Silent Running).
It has waited a long time for a home release because it has various songs for which Universal had not bought the video rights (Rolling Stones, Chris Kristofferson...). The first release was made by Anchor Bay:
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Itīs a great release with an interesting audio commentary, among other things (I have the limited edition in a tin box with a miniature car key chain).
Then came the definitive Criterion release:
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It has various interviews, including one with Chris Kristofferson, a new, different audio commentary, the original screen tests shot with Laurie Bird and James Taylor, the complete original script by Rudy Wurlitzer and other things.
In zone 2, there's a nice French release, whith several bonus material from the previous ones:
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Cockfighter - 1974
Another Roger Corman production. Warren Oates is playing the lead (same year as Bring me the head of Alfredo Garcia). Not as good as the previous three pictures - Corman did not allow Hellman all the rewrites he wanted, and it shows : the best scenes are precisely the ones that have been rewritten, involving the main characterīs girlfriend.
The Anchor Bay release is probably the best, as, beside a nice audio commentary, it also includes the Across the border documentary on Warren Oates:
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China 9, Liberty 37 - 1978
An Italian production shot in Spain. Again, not as great as it could have been, but still a very interesting film. I'm not writing this because we're on a Peckinpah forum, but the whole film is actually given meaning by the caracter played by Peckinpah. It's the last film Hellman could make with Oates before his death. Hellman's next film is dedicated to him.
Itīs the only one I donīt have on DVD. Every release Iīve stumbled upon seemed of rather bad quality. Some advice anyone?
Iguana - 1988
There had been more overtly erotic scenes in Cockfighter and China 9, Liberty 37, which already hinted to Hellmanīs interest in a more open way of dealing with that kind of issues, as seen here. Also: Hellman's previous great films' strength often comes from the fact that they are elliptical, with rather few dialogues (in Cockfighter, Warren Oates' caracter has even made a vow of silence). We are shown things, instead of being told what to see. Here, there's suddenly a lot of dialogue. The film certainly did not benefit from the difficulties of shooting on an foreign island and on boats, and the budget could have been bigger, I guess...
Anchor Bayīs release is great with an interesting audio commentary:
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Silent Night, Deadly Night III: Better Watch Out! - 1989
A direct to video film. The Silent Night, Deadly Night franchise is not a good one, and despite several nice touches, itīs rather sad to watch.
I have this release:
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Stanley's Girlfriend - 2006
Shot as part of the episode film Traped Ashes (with films by Sean Cunningham, Ken Russell and John Gaeta, and a wrapparound shot by Joe Dante). The fact that this is the best episode of the whole film doesnīt save it from its many problems. But itīs good to see Hellman dericting again.
The DVD I have includes Hellmanīs cut of Stanleyīs girlfriend, which is a little bit more interesting (it has a nice dialogue about Hiroshima and Nagasaki), but doesnīt solve the filmīs main problems:
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Road to Nowhere - 2010
Another masterpiece. I hope itīs not his last...
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Monte Hellman (Read 32368 times)
