“You’ve come a long way. I appreciate that you’re traveling all this way to see me,” Monte Hellman said after I rang his doorbell and he opened the door. I did leave Hollywood early in the morning—I took the Metro Rail from Hollywood and Vine to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles, there I hopped on the Greyhound bus to Palm Springs, and from there, a Lyft ride brought me to the gated community near Palm Springs where Mr. Hellman now resides.

But that itinerary was peanuts compared to his long and rewarding journey as a director whose film output includes four early Jack Nicholson films, “Flight to Fury” and “Back Door to Hell” (both 1964) and two westerns “The Shooting” and “Ride in the Whirlwind” (both 1966), as well as “Two-Lane Blacktop” (1971), the action drama “Cockfighter” (1974), and another western of his, “China 9, Liberty 37” (1978). Films that film buffs are all very familiar with.

Just to pick out one of them, “Two-Lane Blacktop” (1971)—which is undoubtedly one of the greatest road movies ever made. The film stars singers/musicians and first-time actors James Taylor and Dennis Wilson (co-founder and member of the Beach Boys), with Warren Oates and Laurie Bird in the other leading roles. The slow-paced, atmospheric cross-country car race, about everything and nothing, with great visuals and limited dialogue, has always been a favorite film of mine, and the subtle cult masterpiece looks even better today than it did almost fifty years ago. This might as well be your typical Monte Hellman picture, although his entire body of work has so much more to offer.

“Two-Lane Blacktop” (1971, trailer)

His first film was “Beast from the Haunted Cave” (1959), brought to him by Roger Corman. The film was shot back-to-back with Corman’s “Ski Troop Attack” (1960), using the same locations in Deadwood, South Dakota; the same cast, including Michael Forest, Frank Wolff, Sheila Noonan, Richard Sinatra, and Wally Campo; the same screenwriter, Charles B. Griffith; the same cinematographer, Andrew M. Costikyan, and so on—which is so like Roger Corman, who introduced Mr. Hellman to filmmaking. He mentored him, just as he launched the careers of so many others.

Born in New York City in 1932, and moving with his family to Los Angeles when he was five, Mr. Hellman made all of his films on a tight budget. The all-round, multi-skilled film craftsman who made very personal character studies was not only a film director and editor—in the latter capacity, also working for other film directors such as Roger Corman (“The Wild Angels,” 1966), Bob Rafelson (“Head,” 1968), Sam Peckinpah (“The Killer Elite,” 1975), and Jonathan Demme (“Fighting Mad,” 1976).

Over the years, Mr. Hellman also shot the prologue for Francis Ford Coppola’s “Dementia 13” (1963); he was dialogue director (Roger Corman’s “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre,” 1967); finished Mark Robson’s “Avalanche Express” (1979) in post-production; did second unit work for Paul Verhoeven (“RoboCop,” 1987), and co-executive produced Quentin Tarantino’s debut film “Reservoir Dogs” (1992). His latest film as film director was “Road to Nowhere” (2010), the first feature he directed since “Iguana” (1988).

Mr. Hellman still has a huge following in Europe and his work is much praised by the French because the films he directed have a European—or at least a foreign—flavor. Consequently, it’s no surprise that he has always been fond of foreign-language films.

In November 2018, he moved from Laurel Canyon in the Hollywood Hills to Palm Desert, California. That’s where I met him five months later at his new home, in March 2019. He still got invited to attend numerous events in Los Angeles, but, as he said, ‘I can’t go. Los Angeles is too far. I haven’t been back since I moved here.’

During our conversation in his living room, you couldn’t ignore the posters on the walls, all beautifully framed, of films that are very dear to him.

Mr. Hellman, since you don’t live in Los Angeles anymore, don’t you miss the film community?

No, there is no film community; at least, I was not a member of any film community.

Nevertheless, you had an impressive career, didn’t you?

It was sporadic, but it was fine.

Don’t you think you were underestimated as a filmmaker?

I don’t think so. I actually had a very good score with critics—I don’t believe in critics, but they liked my movies from the very beginning. I never had a problem with them liking me, I had a problem with me respecting them because they may have liked me for the wrong reasons.

What gave you the passion to become a filmmaker?

The Saturday matinee serials like “The Lone Ranger” and the “Tarzan” films, that was really the beginning of my love of cinema.

Was it the storytelling that inspired you, or was it because of the performances, the directing…?    

No, I wasn’t thinking about those things. I just liked movies.

Out of the many films you made, would you consider “Two-Lane Blacktop” [1971] a highlight of your career or your most personal film?

I enjoyed making it, and it was one of my best films, but my most personal film was “Road to Nowhere” [2010]. If I didn’t have any other film, that’s the one I would keep.

You also edited your films. When you were shooting on the set, did you edit already in your mind?

Not really. I was an editor and I edited most of my own movies, but I wasn’t thinking about that when I was on the set.

How did you work with your actors? Did you have a specific approach or working method?

No, because whatever I did, I didn’t do it consciously. I didn’t think about it. I didn’t analyze it. Later in my career, when my movies came out on DVD or Blu-ray, I saw interviews with some of the people I worked with. Millie Perkins [Jack Nicholson’s co-star in “The Shooting” and “Ride in the Whirlwind,” both 1966] told a lot about my direction because I didn’t know what I was doing. She said that whenever she would ask me a question, I would always say, ‘I don’t know.’ I wouldn’t even answer her question [laughs]. So that was my first insight. I think I worked from my instincts. I didn’t think about things too much.

How did you cast your actors?

I usually cast actors from their look, from their appearance, and then I was always surprised because they were so inspired. I didn’t expect that. The most surprising actress I worked with was Shannyn Sossamon [“Road to Nowhere”]. I cast her because she looked apart, and when she turned out to be so brilliant, it was a pleasure, but it was also surprising. And I thought there was a little bit of Laurie Bird in her [1953-1975, actress who appeared in “Two-Lane Blacktop” and “Cockfighter”]; quite a bit of Shannyn’s dialogue even comes from things I remember from Laurie when we did “Two-Lane Blacktop” and “Cockfighter” together.

You have worked with a lot of amazing people. You even turned James Taylor into a magnificent actor.

He was really amazing, but he still hasn’t seen the movie. I think he doesn’t like to see himself.

You made four films with Jack Nicholson, also four with Warren Oates [1928-1982], who was one of the best character actors of his generation. According to Richard Linklater, he was one of the reasons why you’d love “Two-Lane Blacktop” because ‘there was once a God who walked the earth named Warren Oates.’ What made him so special?

He was such a special human being, to begin with. I first saw him in a stage production of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” playing the part Jack Nicholson played in the movie, and he popped into my mind for “The Shooting” [1966]. We both liked literature, that was one of our common interests, and we became close friends. So I really enjoyed working with him, and he was always very surprising to me. But generally, I don’t give direction at all. Which means I don’t direct, and I expect my actors to be the same way. I don’t want them to act. They don’t have to be the character: they are the character. The character is whoever you cast; that actor becomes the character. That’s why casting is the most important job of the director. After that, there’s nothing more to do. So if people ask me how I direct, I say, ‘I don’t.’ And if actors ask me how to act, I say, ‘Don’t.’ Most great directors don’t direct, you don’t tell an actor what to do. It’s like Clint Eastwood once said, ‘How can I tell Morgan Freeman how to act?’ So you don’t. That’s the bottom line.

Does that mean you don’t rehearse?

I don’t rehearse, that’s right. That doesn’t mean it’s all very fresh—not if you do fifty takes. But I don’t rehearse.

How do you know which take is the right one?

Sometimes I don’t know until I’m in the editing room.

As an editor, do you leave a lot of material on the cutting room floor?

I would think so. I shoot probably a ratio of ten to one, so I leave ninety percent on the cutting room floor. Maybe even more than that, because if I have different angles, there’s duplication here and there.

When you see Jack Nicholson on television in a movie, do you still recognize the actor and the person that you’ve known now for so many years?

It’s difficult for me to say because I haven’t seen all his movies. I loved working with him, but I like a different kind of movie than the ones he’s been making. My favorite movies from the last few years are “Silence in Dreamland” [2013, original Italian title “Silencio en la tierra de los sueños”] and “Saint George” [2016, original Portugese title “São Jorge”].

Can you name a film that you didn’t like and that everybody else seemed to enjoy?

“La La Land” [2016]. I just couldn’t watch it.

When they send you a script, how do you judge it? What does it take for you to accept it or turn it down?

I work emotionally, so it has to interest me. I never think about things like the structure or anything like that. That doesn’t interest me.

How do you work with your cinematographer?

I worked with the same cinematographer for years. Josep M. Civit made my last four movies, I guess. We didn’t have to talk; we just knew what to do.

Are film reviews important to you? Do you read them?

Oh yes, I read them [laughs]. I have enough of a curiosity to be interested; also if the reviewer doesn’t like the movie, I’m always interested.

Do critics usually know what they’re writing about?

No. Very few. The only person I ever met who really understood one of my movies—the movie was “Two-Lane Blacktop”—was a man who worked in a brewery; he came to me and told me what he saw. Now that didn’t matter to me, I mean if someone had a different interpretation, that was okay too, you know. But I thought it was interesting; here you had this one guy who saw what I saw. And what made the film interesting from my point of view was that the first edit was three and a half hours. But according to our contract, it couldn’t be more than two hours. So I cut it down to two hours, and then I kept cutting to what it is now, which is an hour and three quarters. So after we reached the contractual obligation, I still cut it because I wanted to.

Did that also same happen with your other films? “Cockfighter” [1974], for example?

That’s the only film, with “Road to Nowhere,” that I didn’t edit completely. I edited the scenes with the actors, and Lewis Teague edited all the scenes with the cockfights. I intended to edit “Road to Nowhere,” but my protégée was a woman [Céline Ameslon] that I had convinced to go back to Paris to get a degree in editing after she had been there as a director. So when I brought her over to be my assistant, we watched the dailies for three days, and we talked about them. After that, I said, ‘Why don’t you start editing? Start with the first scene?’ And she did, and when we watched it, I suggested she’d finish the movie. And she did.

Was it easy for you to let it go, especially since you were used to editing everything yourself?

Well, what can I say? She was better than me, that’s why I urged her to do it.

How important is editing to you?

I was a stage director, and in movies, the directing and the editing combined make up what a stage director does. So directing and editing are equally important.

We just talked about film critics. What about critics such as Roger Ebert, Rex Reed, or Pauline Kael? Did you know any of them personally?

No, I didn’t know them, but Pauline Kael, for some reason, disliked my movies so much that she would even mention me when she was reviewing another movie, not mine. She would say, ‘It’s almost as bad as a Monte Hellman film.’ She never liked any of my movies.

How important were the box office receipts to you? Were they crucial?

Obviously not, because I never made a movie that made a lot of money [laughs]. It was something that I wished for, but I can’t say it was crucial because I lived without it.

When your movies are on TV, or people buy a DVD or Blu-ray of your movies, do you get paid for that?

No, I never get paid for that. Every once in a while I get a check for a few dollars from the Directors Guild as my receipt for box office sales or DVD sales in Holland or something. So as far as I’m concerned, there’s not a lot of money in making movies.

People always talk about the film business, but shouldn’t it be called film art?

I don’t use the word film anymore. It goes back to the early days when they called them motion pictures. I still call them pictures now. Film is no longer accurate because we don’t make movies on film anymore. They’re pictures. So I make pictures.

And do you see your own pictures again from time to time?

No. Except “Road to Nowhere” that I show to people, and every time I think I’m going to watch a couple of minutes, but in the end, I watch the whole thing.

Do you still watch a lot of movies?

No. I try. I can tell if a movie is good after one or two minutes. That works, at least for me. After two minutes, if I feel it’s not right for me, I don’t watch the rest of it. I look for something very unique. With “Saint George,” which I saw at the Academy when I was a member of the committee for foreign-language movies, I knew right away it was a movie for me—from the first few frames.

Is that what you also try to achieve as a filmmaker? Capture the attention of the audience from the very beginning?

When you’re directing on the set, you’re experiencing it differently. As a filmmaker, I have basically learned to shut off my brain, and so everything is through my instincts. I work from the unconscious. And that’s also what I tell my actors, ‘Shut off your brain, don’t think too much. Just let it happen.’ Only then it will come from the unconscious, not from the conscious.

Did you ever teach film students?

I had a few students for a while; we called it a masterclass but everything I know about movies, I can teach or tell you in a minute or two. So what we would do in those masterclasses is watch movies and talk about them afterward. On the other hand, I think I learned more from those students than what they learned from me, especially in terms of using modern technology.

And what would be your advice to film students now?

Don’t [laughs]. If they want to be a director, I’d say, ‘Don’t.’

If you would be able to start all over again, would you choose the same path?

I didn’t choose it, and I don’t think I would have any choice. But I would still do the same thing.

You have a lot of books here in your living room. Are they film books?

No, there’s only one, a biography of David Lean.

You admire him?

I do. I was at his 80th birthday party. I didn’t know him, but I managed to attend that party.

Did you ever have problems financing your films?

Always. I never had a project of mine that got made, except for “Road to Nowhere,” that was the first one. Before that, somebody always called me and offered me a movie. They hired me as their director, I was a director for hire. So I never had one of my projects green-lighted until “Road to Nowhere.” My daughter [Melissa Hellman] had raised the money for it, and she became my producer, but we haven’t made another movie since then. It’s always difficult to finance a movie.

“Road to Nowhere” was your first film in more than twenty years. Was the money issue the reason why it took you so long to make another feature?

Melissa got tired of seeing “Two-Lane Blacktop” over and over again, so she said it was time for me to make another movie. And one day, she told me, ‘Let us just stop waiting for other people to give you permission and the money to make a movie.’ So she went out on her own and raised most of the budget that we used to shoot the film on location in Los Angeles, North Carolina, London and Italy. Then she raised more money to get us through post-production.

“Road to Nowhere” (2010, trailer)

Are you still a member of the Academy?

Yes. But I’ve only been a member of the Academy for like ten years. I was put up for membership over the years—twice—before I was finally taken in. Now let me see [takes his wallet]. I became a member of the Academy in… where’s my membership card… in 2007. Only in 2007 because I was never accepted. But I’m happy to be in, and I was a member of the foreign-language committee, so every year I would see 35 out of 90 movies. I have become friends with the directors of the foreign movies that I mentioned, because of my love for their movies. They don’t necessarily broaden my horizon, but the few movies that I love, I see them over and over again—I see them a dozen times, sometimes two dozen times. I know those directors because I write them for a copy of the movie after I had seen it at the Academy and liked it so much.

Do foreign films have something that you may not find in American films?

Always. In recent years I’ve become less and less interested in American movies. I don’t watch them very much.

Do you still have the opportunity to watch foreign-language films, now that you’re no longer based in Los Angeles?

It has become difficult now, but I still get screeners once in a while.

You directed Sam Peckinpah in “China 9, Liberty 39” [1978]. How do you remember working with him?

When I did that movie, I already knew him, and I kept trying to have him come over and play a part, but he just didn’t show up. I had him set for three different parts, and when we wanted to shoot his scenes, no Sam Peckinpah, so someone else did it. Then the last day of shooting, I tried to get hold of him again, and he finally showed up. He was completely insane and very difficult because he would be under the influence of one drug or another. But I loved him; he was a wonderful, crazy person.

How about Roger Corman? Do you remember the first time you met him?

No, I don’t remember that, but I was aware of him when I was working at a studio over by Griffith Park. I had my lunch there, and he was there one day shooting a movie. He was very important: without him, I wouldn’t be here. He launched many careers over the years.

Is it true that you also knew James Dean?

I knew him at UCLA, and I said to him I didn’t think he would make it as an actor because he was too short. He was a star, he looked great, he was a wonderful actor, but I told him, ‘It’s too bad you’re not tall, Jimmy’ [laughs].

You co-executive produced Quinten Tarantino’s first film “Reservoir Dogs” [1992]. What does an executive producer do?

He is usually the one who comes up with the money, and that’s what I did.

Did he like your films?

Yes, he loves my work, but there is no movie he doesn’t love [laughs].

May I take a picture of you before I leave?

No, I don’t do pictures anymore. I want people to remember me like I was [laughs].

Palm Desert, California
March 30, 2019

FILMS

BEAST FROM THE HAUNTED CAVE (1959) DIR Monte Hellman PROD Gene Corman SCR Charles B. Griffith (also story) CAM Andrew M. Costikyan ED Anthony Carras MUS Alexander Laszlo CAST Michael Forest, Sheila Carol [Sheila Noonan], Frank Wolff, Willy Campo, Richard Sinatra, Linné Ahlstrand

SKI TROOP ATTACK (1960) DIR – PROD Roger Corman DIR FOOTAGE ADDED FOR TV Monte Hellman [uncredited] SCR Charles B. Griffith CAM Andrew M. Costikyan ED Anthony Carras MUS Fred Katz CAST Michael Forest, Frank Wolff, Wally Campo, Richard Sinatra, James Hoffman, Chan Biggs, Tom Staley, Sheila Carol [Sheila Noonan], Roger Corman

THE WILD RIDE (1960) DIR – PROD Harvey Berman SCR Marion Rothman, Ann Porter (story by Burt Topper) ED Monte Hellman [uncredited], William Mayer CAST Jack Nicholson, Georgianna Carter, Robert Bean, Carol Bigby, John Bologni, Gary Espinosa, Judith Trezise

CREATURE FROM THE HAUNTED SEA (1961) DIR – PROD Roger Corman DIR PRE-TITLE SEQUENCE Monte Hellman [uncredited] SCR Charles B. Griffith CAM Jacques R. Marquette ED Angela Scellars MUS Fred Katz CAST Antony Carbone, Betsy Jones-Moreland, Robert Towne, Beach Dickerson, Robert Bean, Esther Sandoval

DEMENTIA 13 (1963) DIR Francis Ford Coppola, Monte Hellman [prologue] PROD Roger Corman SCR Francis Ford Coppola CAM Charles Hannawalt ED Stuart O’Brien, Morton Tubor MUS Ronald Stein CAST William Campbell, Luana Anders, Bart Patton, Mary Mitchell, Patrick Magee, Eithne Dunne, Peter Read, Karl Schanzer

THE TERROR (1963) DIR Roger Corman ([uncredited] Monte Hellman, Francis Ford Coppola, Jack Nicholson, Jack Hill, Dennis Jakob, Jack Hale) LOCATION DIR Monte Hellman PROD Roger Corman SCR Leo Gordon, Jack Hill CAM John M. Nickolaus Jr., Floyd Crosby ED Stuart O’Brien MUS Ronald Stein CAST Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson, Sandra Knight, Dick Miller, Dorothy Neumann, Jonathan Haze

FLIGHT TO FURY (1964) DIR Monte Hellman PROD Fred Roos, Eddie Romero SCR Jack Nicholson (story by Monte Hellman, Fred Roos) CAM Mike Accion ED Monte Hellman [uncredited], Joven Calub MUS Nestor Robles CAST Dewey Martin, Fay Spain, Jack Nicholson, Vic Diaz, Joseph Estrada, Jacqueline Hellman, John Hackett

BACK DOOR TO HELL (1964) DIR Monte Hellman PROD Fred Roos SCR Richard A. Guttman, John Hackett (story by Richard A. Guttman) CAM Nonong Rasca ED Monte Hellman [uncredited], Fely Crisostomo MUS Mike Velarde CAST Jimmie Rodgers, Jack Nicholson, John Hackett, Annabelle Huggins, Conrad Maga, Johnny Monteiro

CORDILLERA (1964) DIR Monte Hellman PROD Fred Roos SCR Jack Nicholson, Eddie Romero MUS Nestor Robles CAST Joseph Estrada, Dewey Martin, Fay Spain, Robert Arevalo, Vic Diaz, Imelda Ilanan, Ely Ramos Jr., Henry Duval

BUS RILEY’S BACK IN TOWN (1965) DIR Harvey Hart PROD Elliott Kastner SCR Walter Gage [Wiliam Inge] CAM Russell Metty ED Folmar Blangsted ASST ED Monte Hellman MUS Richard Markowitz CAST Ann-Margret, Michael Parks, Janet Margolin, Brad Dexter, Jocelyn Brando, Larry Storch, Kim Darby, Mimsy Farmer, David Carradine

RIDE THE WHIRLWIND (1966) DIR Monte Hellman PROD Monte Hellman, Jack Nicholson SCR Jack Nicholson CAM Gregory Sandor ED Monte Hellman [uncredited] MUS Robert Drasnin CAST Cameron Mitchell, Millie Perkins, Jack Nicholson, Katherine Squire, Rupert Crosse, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hackett

THE WILD ANGELS (1966) DIR – PROD Roger Corman SCR Charles B. Griffith CAM Peter Bogdanovich [uncredited], Richard Moore ED Peter Bogdanovich [uncredited], Monte Hellman MUS Mike Curb, Davie Allan CAST Peter Fonda, Nancy Sinatra, Bruce Dern, Diane Ladd, Buck Taylor, Norman Alden, Michael J. Pollard, Gayle Hunnicutt, Dick Miller, Peter Bogdanovich

THE SHOOTING (1966) DIR Monte Hellman PROD Monte Hellman, Jack Nicholson SCR Adrien Joyce (a.k.a. Carole Eastman) CAM Gregory Sandor ED Monte Hellman [uncredited] MUS Richard Markowitz CAST Will Hutchins, Millie Perkins, Jack Nicholson, Warren Oates, Charles Eastman, Guy El Tsosie

THE ST. VALENTINE’S DAY MASSACRE (1967) DIR – PROD Roger Corman DIALOGUE DIR Monte Hellman SCR Howard Browne CAM Milton Krasner ED William B. Murphy CAST Jason Robards Jr., George Segal, Ralph Meeker, Jean Hale, Clint Ritchie, Frank Silvera, Joseph Campanella, Bruce Dern, Harold J. Stone, Jack Nicholson

HEAD (1968) DIR Bob Rafelson PROD Bob Rafelson, Jack Nicholson SCR Bob Rafelson, Jack Nicholson CAM Michel Hugo ED Monte Hellman [uncredited], Michael Pozen CAST Peter Tork, Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, Victor Mature, Annette Funicello, Timothy Carey, Sony Liston, Frank Zappa, Teri Garr, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson, Bob Rafelson

TARGET: HARRY (1969) DIR Henry Neill [Roger Corman] PROD Gene Corman SCR Bob Barbash CAM Patrice Pouget ED Monte Hellman MUS Les Baxter CAST Vic Morrow, Suzanne Pleshette, Victor Buono, Cesar Romero, Stanley Holloway, Charlotte Rampling, Michael Ansara, Ahna Capri

THE CHRISTIAN LICORICE STORE (1971) DIR James Frawley PROD – SCR Floyd Mutrux CAM David L. Butler ED Richard A. Harris MUS Lalo Schifrin CAST Beau Bridges, Maud Adams, Gilbert Roland, Allan Arbus, Anne Randall, Monte Hellman (Joseph), Jean Renoir, Talia Coppola [Talia Shire]

TWO-LANE BLACKTOP (1971) DIR – ED Monte Hellman SCR Rudy Wurlitzer, Will Cory (story by Will Cory) CAM Jack Deerson CAST James Taylor, Warren Oates, Laurie Bird, Dennis Wilson, David Drake, Richard Ruth, Jaclyn Hellman, Harry Dean Stanton

COCKFIGHTER (1974) DIR Monte Hellman PROD Roger Corman SCR Charles Willeford (also novel) CAM Néstor Almendros ED Monte Hellman [uncredited], Lewis Teague MUS Michael Franks CAST Warren Oates, Richard B. Shull, Harry Dean Stanton, Ed Begley Jr., Laurie Bird, Troy Donahue, Millie Perkins, Charles Willeford

SHATTER (1974) DIR Michael Carreras, Monte Hellman [uncredited] SCR Don Houghton CAM John Wilcox, Roy Ford, Brian Probyn ED Eric Boyd-Perkins MUS David Lindup CAST Stuart Whitman, Lung Ti, Lily Li, Peter Cushing, Anton Diffring, Yemi Goodman Ajibade, Liu Ka Yong [Chia Yung Liu]

THE KILLER ELITE (1975) DIR Sam Peckinpah PROD Martin Baum, Arthur Lewis SCR Stirling Silliphant, Marc Norman (novel by Robert Syd Hopkins) CAM Philip H. Lathrop ED Monte Hellman, Tony de Zarraga MUS Jerry Fielding CAST James Caan, Robert Duvall, Arthur Hill, Bo Hopkins, Mako, Burt Young, Gig Young, Tom Clancy

HARRY AND WALTER GO TO NEW YORK (1976) DIR Mark Rydell PROD Don Devlin, Harry Gittes SCR Robert Kaufman, John Byrum (story by John Byrum, Don Devlin) CAM László Kovács ED Don Guidice, David Bretherton ADDITIONAL ED Monte Hellman [uncredited] MUS David Shire CAST James Caan, Elliott Gould, Michael Caine, Diane Keaton, Charles Durning, Lesley Ann Warren, Val Avery, Jack Gilford, Carol Kane, Burt Young, Bert Remsen

SUDDEN DEATH (1977) DIR Eddie Romero PROD John Ashley, J. Skeet Wilson SCR Oscar Williams CAM Justo Paulino ED Monte Hellman [uncredited] MUS Johnny Pate CAST Robert Conrad, Don Stroud, Felton Perry, John Ashley, Thayer David, Aline Samson, Larry Manetti

AMORE, PIOMBE E FURORE, a.k.a. CHINA 9, LIBERTY 39 (1978) DIR Monte Hellman PROD Monte Hellman, Gianni Bozzacchi, Valerio De Paolis SCR Jerry Harvey, Douglas Venturelli (story by Ennio De Concini) CAM Giuseppe Rotunno ED Monte Hellman [uncredited], Cesare D’Amico MUS Pino Donaggio, John Rubinstein CAST Fabio Testi, Warren Oates, Jenny Agutter, Sam Peckinpah, Isabel Mestres, Gianrico Tondinelli

AVALANCHE EXPRESS (1979) DIR Mark Robson, Monte Hellman [uncredited] PROD Mark Robson SCR Abraham Polonsky (novel by Colin Forbes) CAM Jack Cardiff ED Monte Hellman [uncredited], Garth Craven MUS Allyn Ferguson CAST Lee Marvin, Robert Shaw, Linda Evans, Maximilian Schell, Joe Namath, Horst Buchholz, Mike Connors, Claudio Cassinelli

THE AWAKENING (1980) DIR Mike Newell PROD Robert H. Solo SCR Allan Scott, Chris Bryant CAM Jack Cardiff ED Terry Rawlings ADDITIONAL ED Monte Hellman [uncredited] MUS Claude Bolling CAST Charlton Heston, Susannah York, Jill Townsend, Stephanie Zimbalist, Patrick Drury, Bruce Myers, Nadim Sawalha

SOMEONE TO LOVE (1987) DIR – SCR Henry Jaglom PROD M.H. Simonson CAM Hanania Baer ED Henry Jaglom [uncredited] CAST Henry Jaglom, Andrea Marcovicci, Michael Emil, Sally Kellerman, Oja Kodar, Orson Welles, Ronee Blakley, Kathryn Harrold, Monte Hellman (Richard)

ROBOCOP (1987) DIR Paul Verhoeven SEC UNIT DIR Monte Hellman [uncredited] PROD Arne Schmidt SCR Edward Neumeier, Michael Miner CAM Jost Vacano ED Frank J. Urioste MUS Basil Poledouris CAST Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O’Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, Miguel Ferrer, Ray Wise, Paul Verhoeven

IGUANA (1988) DIR Monte Hellman PROD Franco Di Nunzio SCR Monte Hellman, Steven Gaydos, David M. Zehr (novel by Alberto Vázquez Figueroa) CAM Josep M. Civit ED Monte Hellman MUS Franco Campanino CAST Everett McGill, Michael Bradford, Roger Kendall, Robert Case, Fabio Testi, Jack Taylor, Maru Valdivielso, Michael Madsen

RESERVOIR DOGS (1992) DIR – SCR Quentin Tarantino PROD Lawrence Bender EXEC PROD Monte Hellman, Richard N. Gladstein, Ronna B. Wallace CAM Andrzej Seluka ED Sally Menke CAST Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, Michael Madsen, Randy Brooks, Quentin Tarantino

LOVE, CHEAT & STEAL (1993) DIR – SCR William Curan PROD Brad Krevoy, Steven Sabler CAM Kent L. Wakeford ED Carole Kravetz Aykanian ADDITIONAL ED Monte Hellman MUS Dan Wool CAST John Lithgow, Eric Roberts, Mädchen Amick, Richard Edson, Donald Moffat, David Ackroyd, Dan O’Herlihy

GREY KNIGHT (1993) DIR George Hickenlooper PROD Brad Krevoy, Steven Stabler SCR Matt Greenberg CAM Kent L. Wakeford ED Monte Hellman, Esther P. Russell MUS Bill Boll CAST Corbin Bernsen, Adrian Pasdar, Martin Sheen, Billy Bob Thornton, David Arquette, Matt LeBlanc, George Hickenlooper, Matt Greenberg

TRAPPED ASHES (2006) DIR Sean Cunningham, Joe Dante, John Gaeta, Ken Russell, Monte Hellman (segment STANLEY’S GIRLFRIEND) PROD Dennis Bartok, Yoshifumi Hosoya, Yoki Yoshikawa SCR Dennis Bartok CAM Zoran Popovic ED Marcus Manton CAST Jayce Bartok, Henry Gibson, Dick Miller, John Saxon, Ken Russell, John R. Taylor

ROAD TO NOWHERE (2010) DIR Monte Hellman PROD Monte Hellman, Melissa Hellman, Steven Gaydos SCR Steven Gaydos CAM Josep M. Civit ED Céline Ameslon MUS Tom Russell CAST Tygh Runyan, Dominique Swain, Shannyn Sossamon, John Diehl, Cliff De Young, Waylon Payne, Fabio Testi