The Films of Monte Hellman

I'm curious, how did the Reservoir Dogs thing happen? Did Tarantino write the script considering Hellman , then change his mind and decide to direct it himself?

I'll try to keep a lookout for the guy, he sounds interesting.

You serious about those DVDs? I saw Two-Lane Blacktop about two years ago and it became one of my all-time favorite films but I could never get my hands on his other films. The westerns are of particular interest to me.

Not to forget the bizarre Iguana

I've wanted to see Two-Lane Blacktop since I saw a signed poster in Scarecrow Video, where they declared it one of the forgotten classics.

So yes, I'll be PMing you.

Two-Lane Blacktop has Dennis Wilson in it, right? How is his acting?

Dennis Wilson is awesome, and is the second finest Beach Boy ever.

That is all.

Dennis Wilson, plays it pretty straight and without much emotion, but thats what the role calls for. Its a fairly surprising film if you haven't seen it, as for the rest of his work I guess I'm a bit ignorant of.

Damn you, Phil! I was planning to start my own Hellman thread once I had plowed through all of his films! I'm about halfway now, following a week where I alternated the 60s Filipino action pics starring Jack Nicholson (BACK DOOR TO HELL, FLIGHT TO FURY) with the 60s westerns starring Jack Nicholson. Yesterday I threw in Hellman and Stuart Whitman's hilariously funny commentary for SHATTER, which ol' Monte got fired from after shooting about 75% of the footage.

As for CHINA 9, would you happen to own an uncut letterboxed print? If it's uncut and letterboxed, I'll be highly interested in a purchase or trade.

Anyway, once I've gotten through the bulk of his stuff in the next few weeks I'll come back here and join you for conversation. Until then, try to keep this thread alive.

I haven't seen Easy Rider yet but this is a comparison I hear often.

Are your films DVD versions?

I just added Back Door to Hell, Beast from Haunted Cave, and Cockfighter to my queue. Two Lane Blacktop isn't available though.

Thanks, Phil. Will be happy to weigh in once I check these out.

...and listed as being available!

Phil! did surprise me when he threw in a short review for FLIGHT TO FURY without mention of BACK DOOR, since the former is now considerably harder to find than the latter.

If you're hunting all things Monte, you'll want to keep an eye out for his uncredited projects as director:

THE TERROR (1963) - Roger Corman started and finished it, but while on hiatus Hellman, Coppola, Jack Hill, Jack Nicholson and Dennis Jacob filled in as director. Hellman did all of the exteriors.

SHATTER (1974) - Hellman shot over three-quarters of the footage before producer Michael Carreras fired him (and finished the film).

THE GREATEST (1977) and AVALANCHE EXPRESS (1979) - Hellman took over for Tom Gries and Mark Robson, both of whom passed away during production.

It's weird that FLIGHT made it to VHS and not BACK DOOR, and now we're seeing the opposite occur for DVD.

Alright, Phil!: SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT III. Worth a blind VHS purchase? Distinctly Monte, or like it could've been directed by the first two hacks?

I'll start reviewing myself sometime over the weekend. For now I'll just post random thoughts and questions and continue bumping this baby.

For serious? You learn something new every day.

Works for me. Two films are plenty to chew on and discuss.

I love this plan. I'm excited to be a part of it. Let's do it.

I somehow have a copy of Two Lane blacktop. But I wants to wait for the criterion to watch it. i wants to.

Netflix is -- for whatever reason -- ignoring my request to borrow IGUANA. They just keep skipping over it in my queue with no explanation. If anyone else is having problems with this title, chime in.

At the very least, I'm going to have to try to track down Cockfighter now after hearing that about it.

The original DVD is a pretty good one. The transfer looks real good and the sound is awesome. Other than the extras, I'm not sure the Criterion version will be much better.

Although I do hope it will be.

Three cheers for Phil!

I have a question about the scene where The Girl is first introduced. Is this a composite shot or is it the transfer that makes it look so? I have the same question in Heat with the scenes of Deniro when he's on his balcony and LA's in the background.

That's almost certainly a composite shot.

Incidentally, I swear at first I thought this thread was about Monte Markham, so I kept thinking, Wow, I didn't realize that guy who starred in and directed DEFENSE PLAY had done so many offbeat things. Then I thought about how Boof from TEEN WOLF, also in DEFENSE PLAY, was sort of hot but also really annoying. Then I looked up Monte Hellman and realized my mistake. Then I looked for DEFENSE PLAY on Amazon. Then I apologized for this stupid post.

Then I'll be quite happy to get a new transfer from the kings amongst men who toil at Criterion.

I need that new Criterion cover as a poster.

Small trail derail: those composite shots in Heat, did they look as bad in theater as they do on the DVD? That transfer is quite mediocre.

Currently working my way through the surprisingly daunting 64 minutes of BEAST FROM HAUNTED CAVE.

Ooo boy. Can't wait to read comments on this one.

Working through Two Lane Blacktop now. I love how authentically 70's this movie feels so far, as opposed to alot of movies that feel "Hollywood 70's", if that makes sense. Thanks Phil.... back to the movie.

Why would you be on the boards while watching Two-Lane?

Yeah, unfortunately I also have a job that requires me to constantly be called away to the computer when I'm not at the office. I figured since I didn't get to thank Phil! for sending the movies I would pop in and do so since I had to be on anyway. Only had the one interuption though, so that was an awesome reprieve.

I really enjoyed the film. It is definitely a film that authentically captures it's time and the footage seemed very genuine, a bit rough, and candid at times.

I loved the scene where the girl was panhandling. I have to think that Hellman must have put her out there to get peoples honest reactions.

I also loved Warren Oates character and how he was either entertaining himself while he was on the road by coming up with his stories or was just a bullshit artist.

Also, the last few frames were genius, absolutely loved it. And you can't really go wrong by hearing James Taylor say "motherfucker".

Thanks again, Phil!.

Look forward to watching the next one.

I watched Two-Lane Blacktop tonight. My first thought: Produced by Gary Kurtz! Woo! This is how you know you're a film geek; a producer credit makes you excited.

At first, I didn't think this movie was going to do it for me. I am not a car person. At all. I don't own a car. I've never even had a license. I just don't care about cars in any way, and hearing these people go on about makes and models and engine parts was failing to connect with me. Eventually I realized that all that might be working in the film's favor. Sometimes it feels like the characters don't even care about it. The fact that the characters don't even get names makes me think that we're not being encouraged to relate to them, and the fact that Taylor has almost no lines, and Wilson's are mostly car talk, sort of reinforces that.

I don't know what anyone else's interpretation is, and I haven't read about the film at all, so I don't know the general consensus on that. But I came away feeling like these were basically some sad losers. They may be going fast, but they're not getting anywhere. Oates' speech to the Girl (who appears to be asleep) about how they're going to settle down and build a house is one of the most pathetic things I've ever seen. It made me wonder if he actually believes all of the bullshit stories he feeds his passengers. He seems to just constantly spew a stream of lies to make himself interesting to himself.

I absolutely love the fact that we never find out who won the race, or even if they finished it. It doesn't matter.

I also watched the mini-doc Monte Hellman: American Auteur. I'm now really excited to check out those two Nicholson westerns. I am a little puzzled, though, by Harry Dean Stanton's contention that Two-Lane Blacktop is the film he's best remembered for. I'd say Alien pretty well claims that title. Then again, I tend to assume that Harry Dean Stanton is stoned out of his mind at all times.

Good point. These guys are gearheads, but they're apathetic gearheads. I think you hit the nail on the head that these characters lives are pretty empty and the one thing that they do have, they seem pretty indifferent about.

That's pretty much it Greg David. I love how things are hinted at but never fully explained. We get the feeling GTO must have suffered some kind of trauma that sent him off on the road and away from his old life but we never get the whole story.

I do believe The Driver and The Mechanic care about cars and racing though. They just don't know how to really enjoy things in life anymore.

I got my DVDs today (Phil you are my hero). I will watch at least one of them tonight and post my reaction.

The scene where GTO diverts a potentially violent confrontation between The Driver, The Mechanic and Alan Vint's hippie-loathing hick in the roadhouse is exactly the kind that would invite comparisons to EASY RIDER.

What makes the scene unique is that in addition to the social revolution aspects and key players, simplified to "counterculture longhairs vs. southern bigots," we have the addition of a neutral character: a middle-aged loner and desperate dilettante, in life as well as with cars.

Oates plays this scene as the frightened mediator to a conflict he will never understand, and probably never wants to. Could his time on the road be an evasive reaction to the era, another indication of the cynicism of the early 70s? It’s a great scene not only for Hellman’s calculated intensity, but also for its depiction of people who -- however aimless in their goals -- have settled into an identity, and one who is still searching for any that fits.

The film makes for an interesting predecessor to COCKFIGHTER, in which the protagonist and narrator Frank (again, Warren Oates) admits to trying out several interests before settling on the title occupation. But though something of an identity falls into place with his decision, obsession takes over. The job is his life, all he knows; it's the same kind of obsession infecting The Driver and The Mechanic.

It's also interesting to see Oates begin the latter film on the road with Laurie Bird, who portrays a similar loser to The Girl in TWO-LANE. If memory serves, these two actors exit TWO-LANE together in GTO’s car (Or do they split up? My memory’s hazy), making COCKFIGHTER a quasi-sequel.

Yeah, she takes off with some random guy on a motorcycle as soon as people start trying to lay claim to her. I found it interesting that for all the men's pretensions of living a life of freedom on the road, she turns out to be the only truly free human being among them. The minute they try to possess her, she takes off.

Ah, okay, thanks! I've seen the film twice, but it's been 4 or 5 years since the last viewing (and I'm still waiting for a copy I reserved through the library). I just watched COCKFIGHTER last week, so that one is a lot easier to draw from.

Isn't it interesting how The Driver never talks when he's driving, and The Mechanic never talks when he's prepping a car? I'm intrigued by Hellman's preference for taciturn and mute characters (again, I think of Frank in COCKFIGHTER). These guys are so fixated on their "work" they can't even stop themselves for a simple conversation.

Has anyone here seen Richard Linklater's SLACKER? The two gearheads in that film remind me of these characters.