For Hellman, narrative is essentially a found object; Ride in the Whirlwind was inspired by diaries and stories of the Old West, several of his projects were originated by others, he has shot new scenes to expand films for television, and so on. Even his work as an editor suggests a desire (the determinist impulse?) to work within an existing framework. Hellman's interest was less in Avalanche Express' ludicrous espionage plot than in the technical challenge this assignment posed: action sequences are cut in a rapid manner which is both exciting and mechanical, Hellman's objective treatment effectively stripping the project of its ideological underpinnings while introducing a tone of clinical detachment which connects neatly with his existential outlook. But Hellman cannot be described as a cold filmmaker, and if he is bored to distraction by Forbes' Commie-bashing, he is clearly captivated by the emotional depths Lee Marvin can suggest via a few lines of dialogue and some exchanged looks with Linda Evans. The film may have only a tangential relationship to Hellman's oeuvre, but it is worth noting that, like China 9, Liberty 37, it ends on a note of reconciliation.
In May 1979, shortly after completing Avalanche Express, Hellman again visited Cannes and sold China 9, Liberty 37 to Lorimar: "This was the only deal I actually made at a festival. I literally hid the only videotape from my competition, who were trying to sell the badly cut Italian version to a schlock distributor, until I could close the deal with Lorimar."9 In June, he attended the Moscow Film Festival.
The following year, Hellman met another of his most important collaborators, Rene Baker: "Rene wrote to me from Quebec early in 1980, and asked if he could be my apprentice. He moved into my house, and worked as a writer on all of my projects during the early 1980s. This led to a writing career for him. He has been producing the TV series Law and Order for many years now."10 Later in 1980, Hellman did some editing on Vernon Zimmerman's Fade to Black, an amusing horror film about a homicidal cinephile: "I was hired by the director Vernon Zimmerman. There was an edit in progress when I came on. The head editor had been imposed on Vernon by the producer, Irwin Yablans. Vernon got permission to bring me on as an additional editor, so that he could have someone on his side. I only worked a couple of weeks, at which time Irwin managed to get rid of me. Rene, who was my assistant, remembers that I was fired and rehired a couple of times before finally departing."11 Hellman's name does not appear on the film's credits. According to Vernon Zimmerman, "None of the editing that Monte did on Fade to Black survived the final cut. That's why he did not get any credit. This is normal. He only worked a short time. As editing proceeds on a film, as you know, the cut changes throughout until the final cut. Any work he may have done was obliterated in the normal course of business."12
Hellman next worked on Mike Newell's The Awakening (1980), an adaptation of Bram Stoker's Jewel of the Seven Stars, previously filmed by Seth Holt under the title Blood from the Mummy's Tomb in 1972.13 The Awakening was a co-production between Orion/Solofilms in America and EMI/British Lion in Great Britain. Newell's director's cut was released to British cinemas in October 1980, the British Board of Film Censors having passed it uncut, with a recorded running time of 105 minutes 3 seconds, on June 4th (Newell's cut was also released throughout Europe). However, Orion was unhappy with this version, and asked Hellman to recut it for the American market: "I worked for over two months in May, June, and July 1980, then spent two weeks in London from August 10 to 24, supervising the final mix. I supervised the cutting of the original negative after I returned from London, so the British prints would have to have been made from a dupe negative made prior to the work I did. I was not given any instructions by Orion — only make it play better and be more scary and exciting. There were probably many small trims, a few frames here and there, to tighten the pace, which is what I was supposed to do. One of the main things I did was create a 'voice' for the mummy, done by manipulating a variety of sound effects. I also changed the sound in other ways. I remember there was a lot of waiting on decisions from higher up, and I also remember many days when I only worked for an hour or so. I should add that I had tremendous respect for Mike Newell, and tried not to destroy his intent. I spoke to him several times re what I was doing. Although the producer, Robert Solo, was a close friend of mine, the work I did was under the auspices of and for Mike Medavoy at Orion, also a close friend of over 30 years."14 Hellman eventually shortened the film by a mere 5 minutes, reducing the running time to 100 minutes.
Curiously, the version released on video in the UK was Hellman's American cut. By comparing the two versions, we can see that Hellman made a series of minor trims-eliminating a shot here, shortening a shot there, cutting superfluous dialogue, and so forth. The most obvious change appears at the climax, since Hellman chose to remove three shots of Margaret (now possessed by Kara) leaving the museum. The intention seems to have been to make the end (which implied that Kara's spirit was now free to destroy the world) less downbeat, though, according to Hellman, "The ending was changed purely for dramatic effect — I felt the shots of Margaret leaving were anti-climactic. Certainly, nobody wanted to make it less downbeat."15 For an example of the sound effects added by Hellman, look at the scene depicting the death of Paul. In Newell's version, Paul's death was shown elliptically via a shot of a light going out in a window; in Hellman's edition, growling noises have been added to the soundtrack.
"Also during 1980 (possibly the end of 1979) I began working for Francis Coppola on King of White Lady, based on a novel by Lance Hill, about cocaine smuggling from South America. The screenplay was written by Mike Moody, under my supervision. Francis and I were interested in different things, I in telling a good story, he in making a philosophical treatise on money. We went through 17 drafts of the screenplay. Warners committed to making the movie, but Francis couldn't let go, and finally lost his studio in Los Angeles before we could make the picture. The project collapsed sometime late in 1981."16
In April 1981, while working on King of White Lady, Hellman directed a short film about Coppola's One from the Heart. This documentary was commissioned for a video compilation by French photo agency Sygma. The video — which includes Bob Rafelson's hilarious mock-autobiographical Modesty as well as several softcore porn items — was released in the UK by Iver Film Services under the title New Look No. 1. Hellman's segment is entitled Inside the Coppola Personality (Charles Tatum, Jr.'s book lists it as Francis Coppola: A Profile). Hellman was not the only important director documenting the making of One from the Heart, since Jean-Luc Godard was also shooting footage of the production: "I never saw Godard, nor was I on the set much. I shot the documentary in two days, I believe after Francis had finished shooting the movie. I didn't operate the camera. What I shot was interviews with Francis in various locations: his trailer at the studio; his kitchen at his house nearby; another room in the house; his editing room; his storyboard sketches; his surprise birthday party (on April 7th); his lunch with the crew, etc. I shot on 16mm. Everything else in the short was video footage that had been shot by others, and was made available to me: Nastassia Kinski on the high wire; her practicing juggling, etc. My 16mm footage ran several hours in length. I went to Paris and spent 5 days editing and transferring and mixing on line. I was under the impression that the final piece would be 11 minutes. I finally had to cut it to 7 minutes."17