1951 Directed by Billy Wilder
A frustrated former big-city journalist now stuck working for an Albuquerque newspaper exploits a story about a man trapped in a cave to revitalize his career, but the situation quickly escalates into an out-of-control media circus.
Kirk Douglas Jan Sterling Robert Arthur Porter Hall Frank Cady Richard Benedict Ray Teal Lewis Martin John Berkes Frances Dominguez Gene Evans Frank Jaquet Harry Harvey Bob Bumpas Geraldine Hall Richard Gaines Oscar Belinda Martin Bendleton Basil Chester Ken Christy Stewart Kirk Clawson Iron Eyes Cody Francisco Day Lester Dorr Claire Du Brey Edith Evanson William Fawcett John Stuart Fulton Joe Gray Show All…
Cadenas de roca, Reporter des Satans, Sensationen för dagen, L'asso nella manica, El gran carnaval, The Big Carnival, Inför tusen ögon, Le gouffre aux chimères, A Montanha dos Sete Abutres, A Montanha dos 7 Abutres, 비장의 술수, 빅 카니발, 빅카니발, じごくのえいゆう, As w potrzasku, Wielki karnawał, Скритият коз, Eso v rukávu, Forside-sensation!, Το Τελευταίο Ατού, El Gran Carnaval, Tuhansien silmien edessä, Le Gouffre aux chimères, הקרנבל הגדול, A nagy karnevál, 地獄の英雄, Asul din gaură, Туз в рукаве, Büyük Karnaval, Туз в рукаві, Người Đàn Ông Trong Đường Hầm, 倒扣的王牌, 洞裡乾坤
USANR
Albuquerque, New Mexico
USANR
UKPG
USANR
FinlandK-16
Germany16
Brazil
FranceU
SpainAPTA
Netherlands12
Brazil12
Netherlands12
Brazil
Finland
France
Germany
Netherlands
Spain
UK
USA
87/100
The equivalent of a deranged maniac rubbing salt into a wound while a rabid dog lunges at your feet. Twisted, dark, feverishly cynical, and hungrily steamy from the first filthy frame to the last ironic mic drop; Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole crafts a chaotic atmosphere while simultaneously building human relationships and wrapping an organic message around its snappy screenplay. Everything just flies off the screen in a way that only Billy Wilder can orchestrate. Kirk Douglas is life.
the way things change.... the way they stay the same. billy wilder held up a twisted mirror to his own time and created classics for the ages. human nature was rotten then and it’s rotten now. watch those black hearts drip.
Back in the old days people used to get stuck in caves all the time. But nowadays no one ever does. Probably because they are all too busy playing on the damn computer....
A ruthless exposition of media sensationalism, an unforgiving examination of the dark side of press & a careful observation 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 the news are reported, the extent 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…
My disbelief in not knowing anything about this Wilder classic is as bewildering as reading that the film was a critical and financial failure back when it was released.
Wilder comes out of the gate, after his tremendous success with the seminal Sunset Blvd, swinging with another razor sharp black as ink Noir; a world inhabited by dubious morals and the shady characters that possess them; ghosted by subtle social commentary on the scruples and methods of the media, and our own fascination with macabre spectacle.
Douglas is the perfect choice as the self centred, morally bankrupt, righteously indignant, and sometimes scenery chewing newspaperman Chuck Tatem; a man on the way down desperately grasping for an opportunity to pull himself…
Action! - Three Auteurs: The Witty and Eclectic Mr. Wilder
I once read an article that made the argument that the advent of social media and the internet had ruined the media, not so much because of rising of sensationalism but because of the growing demand for instant gratification in today's culture. Many people today claim to have a lot to do and a lot on their hands, so entertainment and news can no longer afford to be deep and well-thought-out. You need not seek any further than this platform. Sure, there's always an exception to the rule. But h ell! There is a growing trend of people forming opinions based just on the clickbait titles they see popping up…
People often talk about media and cultural critiques in films being ahead of their time or somehow still relevant even after so long. The point of view is often (but not always) a certain amount of awe or wonder at how the film could manage this timelessness, but in this case, and ones like it, I often just feel sad. I've made a similar point before, but this film, and others like it, are failures. The media circus has only gotten grosser, more callous, and protracted. There is no Mr. Boot now, though. Every little paper, major news network, and blog site is full of Charles Tatums instead. The lesson they took from this film wasn't to respect human life…
Kirk Douglas goes huuuuge in Ace in the Hole, but Billy Wilder creates a grotesque spectacle, and Douglas is the ringleader. He plays Chuck Tatum, a journalist that will do anything for a story, and he turns one man trapped in the collapse of a cliff dwelling into a media circus masquerading as a bloated county fair. Wilder’s camera captures the scope of the perversion, with overhead shots of what looks like the Disney World parking lot, and scores of people streaming from a train to join the party.
No matter how low he sinks, Tatum is always able to convince himself that he occupies the moral high ground. He ropes in the trapped man’s dissatisfied wife, a corrupt sheriff,…
“Bad news sells best, ‘cause good news is no news”
Billy Wilder’s Ace in the Hole is a masterfully told story of a maniacal journalist manufacturing a public frenzy around a man trapped in a cave, darkly satirising the effects and consequences of the media in a way that brilliantly maintains modern relevance. Kirk Douglas’ twisted performance and Wilder’s fantastic screenplay compel interest in the same way the on-screen media event does, tensely building a narrative that keeps you invested as it develops and grows increasingly sinister, seeing the character pushed to extremes as his unbridled selfishness gets in the way of himself and the situation. With sharp camerawork and effective characterisation the director creates a proficient and ingeniously crafted film, proving again his near unmatched ability in cinematic storytelling.
Kirk Douglas... I really hate this man.
But most of all, I hate how much I enjoy hating him and all the eminently hateable characters he played.
Much like Brian De Palma is the director to best use Sean Penn - casting him in the smarmy asshole roles he just innately excels at - director Billy Wilder could call a scumbag when he saw one.
And he certainly saw Kirk Douglas.
“Ace in the Hole” is Wilder stoking the embers of detestability flaming in Douglas’ soul. And what a pleasure it is to burn.
Nothing in any lead character in “Ace” is redeemable. Wilder’s follow-up to “Sunset Boulevard” is just as nihilistic as its predecessor, but covered with dirt and grime…
