Monte Hellman: His Life and Films

by Brad Stevens

"I just did it, and I probably made more mistakes than the average person who makes a first film. I didn't really have any help, and I wouldn't take any help. I had to do it on my own. Once I made my first film I considered myself a film-maker. I lost all interest in the theater and never went back"--Monte Hellman In 1970, an LA Times headline described Monte Hellman as "Hollywood's best kept secret". More than thirty years later, Hellman and his work are still secrets, his genius recognized only by a small but passionate group of admirers. This book is both a biography of Hellman and a critical study of his films, which include The Shooting, Two-Lane Blacktop and Ride in the Whirlwind. It also covers films to which Hellman has contributed as an editor, actor and producer, as well as those on which he has worked, in various capacities, without onscreen credit, such as Shatter and Robocop. Attention is focused on the hallmarks of Hellman's work, including his dominant themes and obsessive characters, and all the films are subjected to close stylistic analysis.

Genres: Film

Paperback

First published March 1, 2003

About the author

Brad Stevens is a film critic and novelist based in the UK. He is the author of 'Monte Hellman: His Life and Films' (McFarland, 2003) and 'Abel Ferrara: The Moral Vision' (FAB Press, 2004). He writes regularly for 'Sight & Sound': his 'Bradlands' column appears every month on the magazine's website.

He has also contributed to 'Cahiers du Cinema', 'Video Watchdog', 'The Dark Side', 'The International Film Guide', 'The Movie Book of the Western', 'Defining Moments in Movies' and the 'Senses of Cinema' website. He recorded commentary tracks for the Masters of Cinema DVDs of 'Nosferatu' and 'Tabu', has appeared in several documentaries, and can be seen interviewing Christopher Lee on VCI's DVD of 'The City of the Dead'. He has written many DVD sleeve notes. He co-authored the English subtitles for F. J. Ossang's 'Dharma Guns' (2010), and was on the jury at the Oldenburg Film Festival in 2007.

His novels 'The Hunt' and 'A Caution to Rattlesnakes' were published by Vamptasy in 2014.

Reviews

[Tom Newth · Rating 3 out of 5]

invaluable research and gap-filling; skimmable analysis. Monte Hellman is brilliant.