Ace In The Hole

It’s been nearly 60 years since the release of Billy Wilder’s Ace in the Hole, yet audiences today are still asking the same question: is this a story worth seeing? And if so what is in it for the audience? Ultimately, in my opinion, this is a story of pure evil. It is not evil in the sense that the villain walks away a victor or in the sense that the audience is forced to root for an undesirable antihero. This film is evil because it is the general public that walks away the loser.

Both Billy Wilder and Kirk Douglas set out to make this film at the height of their career and so it is surprising that the movie did so poorly in the box office. That speaks volumes to the fact that people just did not want to sit through such a grim picture. Yet, Wilder was a genius at film noir and on several occasions creates a story where things are never as they seem and main characters walk away betrayed. With Ace in the Hole Wilder takes film noir to the public square. This is not a story concerning the push and pull between two main characters as with so many other films within the same genre. Instead, it is a story concerning the deception of the general public.

Kirk Douglas plays Charles Tatum a washed up New York newspaper journalist who connives his way into a job at a local paper in Albuquerque. While out on his first story he runs across Leo Minosa, a man who became stuck in an old mine as he was out hunting for treasures. Tatum sees his opportunity and takes it creating one of the most overly sensationalized news stories the movies have ever seen. As the story gets out people come from miles away just for a chance to see Minosa get rescued. The valley facing the cave quickly becomes a carnival as vacationers quickly leave behind their plans for a chance to witness history and a heroic rescue. As the story gets more and more hyped, the result becomes anything but heroic.

I was surprised at how relevant this film felt. Our world of 24-hour news stations has created a sense of urgency in the way we receive news. No longer can there be gaps in our news feed. The unfortunate byproducts are the overly sensationalized stories that get created on the cutting room floor of these multi-billion dollar networks. Today we would call this staged news. It is creating a story out of nothing for the purpose of creating an audience.

Tatum’s ability to write brought in crowds of thousands just for the opportunity to see the spectacle. It’s a strange dichotomy between a public who desires to see Minosa’s rescue and yet they benefit at the same time from the festivities surrounding it. Or to put this another way the longer Minosa stays trapped in the more exciting it is for the crowd. As the risk increases the audience increases as does the price of admission.

In this film there is no hero. There is only the perverted power of the press and the deceived crowd. Yet even the crowd does not get the label of good guy as they are just as responsible for the sensational festivities as Tatum himself.

What to watch for as you view Ace in the Hole:

- Try to figure out who the “good guy” in this film really is? Is there anyone that is not just looking out for his or herself?

- Think about other films noir you have seen. How does this film compare? Do you think it is a rift on the classic film style or should it be placed in a different category all together?

- Consider the way Charles Tatum (Douglas) first enters into the picture at the beginning and how he exits at the end. How does this speak to the overall arc of his character and the film as a whole?

- Think about the way the crowd is used in this film. Is the crowd innocent?

Links:

Video review by the New York Times

Ace In The Hole: Noir in Broad Daylight

Ace In The Hole: Chin Up For Mother

Roger Ebert