Ace in the Hole

Plot synopsis:
Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas) is a fiercely ambitious, self-centered, wisecracking, down-on-his-luck reporter who has worked his way down the ladder. He has come west to New Mexico from New York City, along the way having been fired from eleven newspapers for libel, adultery, and heavy drinking, among other charges. Now that his car has broken down and Tatum is broke, he talks his way into a reporting job for the Albuquerque Sun-Bulletin, a paper of little consequence.
Tatum stays sober and works there uneventfully for a year. Then while unhappily on assignment to cover a rattlesnake hunt, he learns about Leo Minosa (Richard Benedict), a local man who has become trapped in a cave collapse while gathering ancient Indian artifacts.
Sensing a golden opportunity, Tatum manipulates the rescue effort, convincing an unscrupulous sheriff to pressure the construction contractor charged with the rescue into drilling from above, rather than shoring up the existing passages, so that Tatum can prolong his stay on the front pages of newspapers nationwide.
Lorraine (Jan Sterling), the victim's wife, goes along with the reporter's scheme. She is eager to leave Leo and their struggling business, a combination trading post and restaurant in the middle of nowhere. Thanks to the publicity Tatum generates, she experiences a financial windfall, particularly from thousands of tourists who come to witness the rescue.
Herbie Cook (Robert Arthur), the newspaper's young photographer, slowly loses his idealism as he follows Tatum's lead and envisions himself selling pictures to Look or Life. The editor of the Albuquerque Sun-Bulletin tries to talk some sense into his employees, but Tatum quits on the spot, having sold the exclusive rights to his copy to a New York editor for $1000 per day and, more importantly, his old job back.
Thousands flock to the town. The rescue site literally becomes a carnival, with rides, entertainment, songs about Leo, even games of chance. Tatum begins drinking again. He takes up with Lorraine and is greeted heroically by the crowd each time he returns from visiting poor Leo in the cave.
After five days of drilling, the party atmosphere ends abruptly. Upon learning that Leo is fading fast, Tatum belatedly tries to get the contractor to switch back to the quicker procedure of shoring up the walls of the cave, but the vibration from drilling has made this impossible.
Tatum has mistreated Leo's wife once too often as well, and she stabs him with a pair of scissors. Tatum gets the local priest, and takes him into the cave to administer Last Rites. Leo dies.
Tatum has neglected to send copy to the New York editor and he is fired. He calls the editor and tries to confess to killing Leo by delaying the rescue, but the editor hangs up on him. Tatum barely reaches his old office in Albuquerque. He enters calling for publisher Booth (Porter Hall). As Booth walks out of his office to deal with him, Tatum offers to work for nothing, saying that he's a 1000-dollar a day newspaperman. But before he can say any more to Booth, Tatum falls dead on to the floor.

Tags: satire, melodrama

Review:
Was it the surreal inhumanity of the plot, the repugnant newsman devoid of ethics, the exploitation  of the trapped victim, the purposeful prolonging of the victim's entrapment to create a media frenzy, the ultimate commercial creation of an 'event' style attraction complete with a circus like atmosphere surrounding the cave while the victim remained entrapped and close to death.'Supposedly based on a real incident, it's a tough movie to watch and more so if one is prepared to accept the premise that such inhumanity displayed in the movie has an element of truth.I echo the desires of others to have the availability of this movie on VHS or DVD.
Billy Wilder's first commercial failure, but one of his best films, almost up there with "Sunset Blvd."  Ambitious reporter Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas) finds out a man is trapped in a collapsed mine.
One of Billy Wilder's great movies, with a superb acting job by Kirk Douglas as the cynical, glory-seeking and even desperate reporter whose only goal is get back in the limelight by regaining his former big-city news desk job.
The story scenario in which locals, then passers-by and finally distant tourists gravitate to and then make a festival or circus out of the event (the film was also released under the title "The Big Carnival") is supported by the real events on which the story was most likely based: the West VA mine disaster in 1925 that trapped miner Floyd Collins and was reported for 17 days, much as in the film, by local newspaperman Skeets Miller, who crawled into the mineshaft for face-to-face interviews with the trapped and doomed Collins.This movie fits nicely into the Film Noir genre, although it takes place largely under the hot, harsh glare of the Arizona sun, highlighting the sweat and grime visible on the characters' skin and creating a visual metaphor for the sorry state of their souls.
Fifty years later,Billy Wilder's tour de force has worn so well it should be considered the finest movie dealing with the media,topping "network" for instance.The world described here is so depressing,so disheartening that it takes drama to new limits.Not only Tatum is evil,but so are the miner's wife and family who take advantage of the situation ,regardless of any morals.So is the faceless crowd ,who has a wild time, near a dying man.You and me,we could be part of this populace,and maybe we've already been!Remember the little South American girl who fell into a pit in the eighties.The fair sequences might have influenced Fellini for "la dolce vita" (hype about a girl who would have seen Virgin Mary).The soundtrack ,with its relentless thud ,is so oppressive you feel the unfortunate victim's plight within your body and your soul ..
Saw this films years ago and it's still gripping.Mr.Wilder seldom did films that gripped the human condition like this one.After this movie flopped he stuck to screen adaptions of stage hits through most of the fifties.Both director and star,Kirk Douglas really delivered a stinging expose of media hype and manipulation of the newspaper business.Herein,burned out reporter Douglas chances on a man trapped in a cave and ruthlessly exploits it for his own gain.There's no softness here,even the leading lady (played wonderfully by Jan Sterling)is as hard as Douglas.The scenes of all the gawkers showing up,complete with carnival,are outright creepy.There's even a cheesy country western singer plunking a guitar and singing about poor Leo,(the trapped man.) The only sympathetic person is poor Leo's mom who continually prays for his release.Definitely a film for lovers of great movie drama..
Indian Giver or No. With the pairing of Wilder and Douglas we get best of both world's.Best director of his day {or arguably any other} and best actor for that decade and beyond{somewhat arguable}In this drama {not Film Noir enough} because there is no dark urban setting or real femme fatale,exist's a very fine vehicle for Kirk Douglas.As the proragonist who is relentlessly absorbed in his work as hard-boiled reporter looking in earnest for big breaking story,he packs more than the usual Kirk true grit.And any actor worth his salt knows Kirk rules on that domain.His facial countenance of clenched jaw and wild-eyed demeanor was his stock in trade,and made for this type of movie.And we,as audience are privvy too and enveloped by sheer ease at which it is demonstrated.
With a good backdrop of out of the way desert to establish the plot and suspence and plenty of foil to go around,the movie is rive with possible deals and double crosses and film noir aspects of storyline.And again who better than Kirk{one of his absolute best roles}to play the lead character and establish all action around.At the pinnacle of his carreer and it shows,he has more than enough grit and sassiness,and tough-guy bravura to go around.In fact,maybe too much.He is so utterly central to overall plot and story as to render other's in scene to be much less important.Nevertheless a very compelling and outstanding display of character depth and emotion,with a quite dramatic flair for ending.An absolute must see for any fans of Kirk,or great character drama,or journalist's-who seem to be getting a raw deal of late.After watching Mr.Douglas play a hard-edged journalist,then journalism will never be the same.Or will it??
The supporting players are interesting but uneven, ranging from peculiar (Jan Sterling, as the trapped man's soulless wife, who acts like a gangster's moll right out of a film noir), to very good (Richard Benedict as Leo and Ray Teal as the sheriff), to downright awful (Richard Gaines as the New York Daily News editor, whose ranting and raving over the telephone would be funny if it weren't so pitiful).
Coming as it did so soon after his masterpiece "Sunset Boulevard" where he managed to puncture egos in the movie industry, he outdid himself in cynicism and savage wit with this assault on the yellow press which almost tops its illustrious predecessor in quality but easily surpasses it in hard hitting cynicism.The story of a ruthlessly ambitious newspaper reporter who deliberately postpones the rescue of a trapped miner so as to revive his flagging career, the film undoubtedly exaggerates not only the greed of the reporter and of local traders but also ghoulishness of the public.However as with all good satire there was more than a grain of truth in points made and with a scriptwriter of Wilder's calibre it has many hard-hitting lines: the miner's calculating wife when admitting to Douglas not only that she's not the religious type but also that her appearance is what matters most to her: "I don't go to church; kneeling bags my nylons".Above all Wilder's trump card was undoubtedly the casting of Douglas.
Yet, this "yellow journalism" or "tabloid mentality" story has some different twists to it, such as being set in a mountainous desert, not in a big city.The acting is superb, not just with the two leads but with all the supporting actors, led by Porter Hall, who played the newspaper editor "Jacob Boot." I also appreciated the sarcastic comedy in here as Wilder and the screenwriters parody the "carnival" atmosphere which develops when a tragedy occurs and people make a financial profit out of it.
trampling everything in his path - men, women and morals!"Having talked his way into a tedious job on a small-town newspaper, an ambitious, hard-bitten reporter (Douglas) manipulates, and calculatingly drags out, a human interest story he stumbles across (man trapped in underground caves) for his own self-serving purpose (a desperate need to return to big-time, big city journalism), with tragic consequences, unknowingly assisted by the victim's less-than-heartbroken wife (Sterling).A flop on release (even critically), in more recent years it has taken its rightful place as one of Wilder's (and Hollywood's) most uncompromising masterpieces, featuring a fearless Douglas at his blistering best.The money lost by Paramount was recouped from profits from the director's next (hit) picture, STALAG 17.Blu-ray Extras: Documentary, Interview, Trailer, Booklet.
It is understandable that such an uncompromisingly cynical film was not well received and it was not until the more satirical approach used in "Network" that a film depicting media as a money-driven circus became a money-making proposition."Ace in the Hole" is a masterpiece of cinema that has not dated and, in fact, has become ever more relevant in an era in which newsreaders become "emotionally involved" instead of being objective conduits, news beat-ups abound and adjectives are thrown around with gay abandon.It is worth watching this film just to hear the dialogue between Kirk Douglas and Jan Stirling.
Billy Wilder's cynical view of Yankee ingenuity finds roving reporter/con artist Kirk Douglas searching for front page news and stumbling into a yellow journalist's dream come true when he finds an unlucky explorer trapped by a rockslide deep within a cave in desert New Mexico.
The version I saw is titled The Big Carnival and thats a pretty apt title.The story is pretty well known and I'm sure remade several times - Kirk plays Charles Tatum a scruple-less down-on-his-luck journalist who has to settle for a small-town newspaper job because none of the big newspapers wants to work with him on account of his loose morals and drinking habits.
Soon he is being aided by the man's wife and the local sheriff, all who stand to gain in their own ways by prolonging the rescue.Made in 1951 when mass media meant newspapers and radio (at least in this movie), the moral issues addressed here by Wilder are as germane today as then.
Kirk Douglas plays a reporter called Charles Tatum, who comes to work in a small town where nothing interesting ever happens.But then something interesting does happen and he can get an exclusive story on the newspaper.He finds a man trapped in a mine.He does everything to keep him there.Ace in the Hole (1951) is a brilliant Billy Wilder movie that criticizes the media.The actors are great as always in Wilder films.There are Jan Sterling as Lorraine Minosa, Richard Benedict as Leo Minosa, Robert Arthur as Herbie Cook and Kirk Douglas is wonderful in the lead.This now 87 year old actor has done some great roles during his career and this is one of them.The dialog is also excellent which was also typical in Wilder's movies.Watch this movie and see how a movie should be made..
It's no wonder it's only beginning to click to an audience in the last years, compared to other Wilder films that were popular in their day.Kirk Douglas is Chuck Tatum, a hardnosed, cynic, ruthless journalist down-and-out and looking to get back into business.
This film was also appropriately titled "The Big Carnival." What a circus-like media atmosphere is created when sly reporter, Kirk Douglas, goes after a big story in New Mexico.
This is one of my favourite Kirk Douglas films of all time with a magnificent supporting cast including Jan Sterling (superb), Porter Hall (always reliable character actor), Ray Teal (one of his best roles), Richard Benedict, Robert Arthur and Gene Evans.Kirk Douglas is Chuck Tatum - an unsuccessful reporter on his way to cover a news item about a rattlesnake hunt for a small town newspaper when he hears about a man Leo Minosa (Richard Benedict) who is trapped in a mine shaft.
Jan Sterling is perfect as Lorraine Minosa (the unfaithful wife of the trapped man) and her confrontational scenes with Kirk Douglas are electric.Grippingly directed by Billy Wilder (based on a real life incident) the film holds your attention throughout yet its only Oscar nomination was for best story and screenplay - it's hard to believe now but Kirk Douglas and Billy Wilder didn't even get a nomination more's the pity!
Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas) is a former big-city journalist who due to his past indiscretions has now found himself on hard times working for a small newspaper company in Alberquque, New Mexico.
Chuck works to get his big human-interest story.Billy Wilder brings his biting cynicism and Kirk Douglas is the perfect vessel to embody this character.
Floyd Collins, who had the nation gripped while in a similar situation, Tatum seizes his chance and quickly sets up shop, convincing Minosa's unhappy wife Lorraine (Jan Sterling) to stay and play the weeping damsel for the cameras and microphones, and strikes a deal with corrupt local sheriff Kretzer (Ray Teal) to support his re-election bidA more recent film to cover similar ground was Nighcrawler (2014), starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a more outwardly slimy reporter, manipulating events to his own benefit.
Twenty years before the phrase 'media-circus' found its way into the lexicon, Billy Wilder envisaged a literal one while relating the story of a conniving reporter who attempts to turn invisible spectacle of a spelunker trapped in a cave, into the scoop of his life.
The literal media circus that ensues turns Tatum into a star - he contrives to delay the man's rescue, milk the public's lust for spectacle, and auctions himself off to editors - but it comes at the expense of his integrity, even as the victim quietly faces death.Over 60 years later, Ace in the Hole has lost none of its sharpness.
A ruthless exposition of media sensationalism, an unforgiving examination of the dark side of press media & a careful reflection of human nature, Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole covers a wide array of relationships between press, the news it reports, the manner in which it reports it, the lengths to which some journalists choose to exploit someone's misfortunes & the morbid curiosity of us human beings who are always attracted to the scenes of tragedy.The story concerns a fiercely ambitious & self-centered reporter who settles for a reporting job at a small New Mexico newspaper after being fired from every other agency.
But when he learns about a man stuck in a cave, he quickly uses this opportunity to re-jumpstart his career by exploiting the trapped man's situation, bribing the officials to prolong the rescue operation & eventually creating a national media sensation that soon goes out-of-control, leading to terrible consequences.Brilliantly directed from start to finish, it's quite shocking to discover that this quality feature film was a critical & commercial failure when it released but its reception has improved with time as the disgusting portrait of press media it paints has only become more relevant over the years.
This is about a man trapped in a hole, whose story is being manifested by a selfish, ambitious journalist Chuck Tatum played flawlessly by Kirk Douglas.
Wilder, writing with Lesser Samuels and Walter Newman, delivers a hard-boiled tale in which a faded newspaperman (an excellent Kirk Douglas) stumbles upon a human interest story about a miner trapped in a cave (Richard Benedict) and milks it at the miner's expense until it has become an event of carnival proportions and a national media sensation.
As for the film itself, a fictitious down on his luck New York reporter (played by Kirk Douglas) banished to an inconsequential newspaper in New Mexico stumbles into a nearby cave-in where a man is trapped and sees the opportunity to get back in the big time by milking the incident for all it's worth, to the point of conspiring to slow the rescue effort.
Billy Wilder who produced, directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Walter Newman and Lesser Samuels, paints a grim picture of human nature in this story which is both fast moving and uncompromising.Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas) is a newspaper reporter who finds himself out of luck and out of money when he arrives in Albuquerque, New Mexico with a broken down car and no job.
He's a man who'd previously worked for a number of prestigious newspapers where his employment had been cut short due to a variety of problems including alcoholism, adultery and libel but his undoubted talent and his ability to sell himself, quickly gain him a job at the "Albuquerque Sun-Bulletin".A year later, Tatum is assigned to cover a rattlesnake hunt but on his way he stops at a desert trading post where he discovers that the proprietor, Leo Minosa (Richard Benedict) has become trapped in a cave where he'd been searching for Indian artifacts.
Later developments, however, derail Tatum's plans and the carnival atmosphere is soon brought to an end.Kirk Douglas gives an incredibly powerful performance as the unscrupulous Chuck Tatum and Jan Sterling is very believable as the cold, callous and coarse Lorraine who is totally devoid of any redeeming qualities.Commercially, "Ace In The Hole" was a spectacular failure and this was probably down to the fact that most of the people featured in the story are unsympathetic characters.
The story of a loud-mouthed, self-obsessed, unscrupulous big-city newspaper reporter, Charles 'Chuck' Tatum (Kirk Douglas) trying to create a media-frenzied story out of a rescue mission of a good-hearted trading post owner named Leo Minosa (Richard Benedict) who is trapped in a cave, while scheming with Leo's jaded unhappy wife, Lorraine (Jan Sterling) is just too dark for some.
Billy Wilder's "Ace in the Hole" opens with reporter Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas) turning up at a desolate New Mexico town.
ACE IN THE HOLE is Billy Wilder's gritty censure of a collusion between an egocentric reporter Chuck Tatum (Douglas) and the corrupt local Sheriff Gus Kretzer (Teal), who immorally manipulate the entire action of rescuing a man trapped in a cave-in, to their own self-serving purposes, during the process, Tatum's moral conscience has been interminably tested until the worst-case scenario inevitably occurs and pushes him to a futile redemptive effort which will send him to his doom.
We follow the reporter Chuck Tatum played by Kirk Douglas, who will talk a bit each day with Leo, the man trapped in the cave, and also give him rations.
A cynical journalist (Kirk Douglas) delays the rescue of a man trapped in a cave, in order to prolong the story, boost his newspaper's sales and advance his career.Ace In The Hole is an incisive, compelling melodrama which takes a sour look at the American scene; one of director Billy Wilder's masterworks.