--- name: "Monte Hellman" canonical: "https://film.one/person/monte-hellman" fi1m_id: "monte-hellman" imdb_id: "nm0375494" tmdb_id: 20921 wikidata_id: "Q945188" roles: ["Producer","Director"] born: "12 July 1929" died: "20 April 2021" reviewed_on_fi1m: 3 average_as: "producer" average_over: 1 updated: "2026-09-26T17:33:02.219007+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Monte Hellman ## Identity Monte Hellman - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/monte-hellman - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** monte-hellman - **IMDb ID:** nm0375494 - **TMDB ID:** 20921 - **Wikidata ID:** Q945188 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Hellman, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q945188, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0375494/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/20921 Producer and director. Born 12 July 1929 in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. Died 20 April 2021. ## Details - **Work:** Producer, Director - **Born:** 12 July 1929, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA - **Died:** 20 April 2021 - **Active:** 1971–1992 - **Also known as:** Monte Himmelbaum, M. Hellman, Monte Jay Himmelbaum - **Titles on Fi1m:** 3: 1 directing, 1 producing, 1 crew - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1970s 81 (1), 1980s 82 (1), 1990s 86 (1) - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Hellman, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q945188, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0375494/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/20921 ## Fi1m on Monte Hellman > Monte Hellman gives the people in his westerns and road films time to remain strangers. We value that patience, especially when Warren Oates makes the company warmer, though a thin story does not always reward such close attention. In *Two-Lane Blacktop* (1971), the driving continues while the race matters less. Monte Hellman, directing and editing, lets encounters take their time without making each one build towards a contest. We were glad of Warren Oates's company: his warmth makes it possible to care about people who give so little away. Hellman is worth that patience, although he occasionally asks for more than the thin story can sustain. His feature debut, *Beast from Haunted Cave* (1959), began his directing work for Roger Corman. The westerns *The Shooting* (1966) and *Ride in the Whirlwind* (1966), made back-to-back with Jack Nicholson for Corman, helped establish his reputation for sparse storytelling. Across his genre films, motives remain uncertain and action is pared down. These are familiar kinds of stories in which Hellman offers fewer explanations than we might expect. *Two-Lane Blacktop* was his only studio feature, but the move did not make his characters much more forthcoming. Jack Deerson and Gregory Sandor's landscape photography gives *Two-Lane Blacktop* plenty to look at while the central group stays reserved. The outdoor colour lets us enjoy the journey without pretending that movement has made these people happy. Hellman's editing allows the competition to lose urgency, and the film benefits from not continually trying to make the driving exciting. Some stretches could still be shorter. His attention to awkward company is absorbing, but there are silences in which we notice little beyond their length. *Cockfighter* (1974) reunited him with Oates and Corman for another portrait of obsession. Later features came at long intervals, and *Road to Nowhere* (2010) returned to the competing demands of work and intimacy through a film within a film. That concern makes sense of the way his men can be so absorbed in what they do and so uncertain with other people. It also makes the casting important: in *Two-Lane Blacktop*, Oates gives us a reason to stay when the story cannot. Start there, and choose an evening when nobody needs to be hurried. ## Biography Monte Hellman (born Monte Jay Himmelbaum) was an American film director, producer, writer and editor. He was born in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York City, on 12 July 1929 and grew up in Los Angeles. He studied speech and drama at Stanford University and film at the University of California, Los Angeles. Hellman began his career as an editor's apprentice at ABC Television. His directorial debut was the horror film *Beast from Haunted Cave* (1959), produced by Roger Corman. He later directed the Westerns *The Shooting* (1966) and *Ride in the Whirlwind* (1966), both starring Jack Nicholson. He directed and edited the independent road movie *Two-Lane Blacktop* (1971). His other films include *Cockfighter* (1974) and *Road to Nowhere* (2010). He also worked as second unit director on *The Big Red One* (1980). Hellman died on 20 April 2021. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, nytimes.com, hollywoodreporter.com.* ## On Fi1m (3) ### Directed (1) - *Two-Lane Blacktop* (1971), Fi1m 81, Director, Editor — [page](https://film.one/film/two-lane-blacktop.md) ### Produced (1) — the average rests on these - *Reservoir Dogs* (1992), Fi1m 86, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/reservoir-dogs.md) ### Crew (1) - *The Big Red One* (1980), Fi1m 82, Second Unit Director — [page](https://film.one/film/the-big-red-one.md) ## Complete filmography (39) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Venice 70: Future Reloaded* (2013), Director - *Strutter* (2013), Thanks - *Road to Nowhere* (2010), Director, Producer - *On the Road Again: 'Two-Lane Blacktop' Revisited* (2007), Executive Producer - *Make it Three Yards: A Conversation with James Taylor* (2007), Director, Producer - *Somewhere Near Salinas: A Conversation with Kris Kristofferson* (2007), Director, Producer - *Sure Did Talk to You: A Conversation with Walter Coblenz, Jared Hellman and Michael Laughlin* (2007), Director, Producer - *Trapped Ashes* (2006), Director - *Stanley's Girlfriend* (2006), Director - *To Have and to Hold* (1996), Thanks - *Love, Cheat & Steal* (1993), as Additional Editing - *Grey Knight* (1993), Editor - *Reservoir Dogs* (1992), Executive Producer — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/film/reservoir-dogs.md) - *Silent Night, Deadly Night III: Better Watch Out!* (1989), Director, Story - *Iguana* (1988), Writer, Director, Editor - *Someone to Love* (1987), as Attendee / Richard - *Inside the Coppola Personality* (1981), Director - *The Big Red One* (1980), Second Unit Director — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/the-big-red-one.md) - *Avalanche Express* (1979), Editor - *An Almost Perfect Affair* (1979), as Monte Hellman on Filmfestival in Cannes - *China 9, Liberty 37* (1978), Producer, Director, Editor - *Sudden Death* (1977), Editor - *The Killer Elite* (1975), Editor - *Cockfighter* (1974), Director, Editor - *The Christian Licorice Store* (1971), as Joseph - *Two-Lane Blacktop* (1971), Director, Editor — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/two-lane-blacktop.md) - *Target: Harry* (1969), Editor - *Head* (1968), Editor - *The St. Valentine's Day Massacre* (1967), Dialogue - *Ride in the Whirlwind* (1966), Director, Producer, Editor - *The Wild Angels* (1966), Editor - *The Shooting* (1966), Producer, Director, Editor - *Bus Riley's Back in Town* (1965), Assistant Editor - *Back Door to Hell* (1964), Director - *Cordillera* (1964), Co-Director - *Flight to Fury* (1964), Director, Editor, Story - *The Terror* (1963), Location Manager - *The Wild Ride* (1960), Editor - *Beast from Haunted Cave* (1959), Director ## Gallery - ![Monte Hellman](https://film.one/media/person/322457/gallery-3f526e1f7d84.jpg) Monte Hellman — Rodrigo Sombra, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Monte_Hellman_in_2013.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Monte Hellman](https://film.one/media/person/322457/gallery-99b2d1861caa.jpg) Monte Hellman — Image via TMDB - ![Monte Hellman](https://film.one/media/person/322457/gallery-121b54d63045.jpg) Monte Hellman — Image via TMDB --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/monte-hellman