Ace in the Hole (1951)

Director:

Billy Wilder

Writers:

Billy Wilder (written by) &
Lesser Samuels (written by) ...

Release Date:

29 June 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Film-Noir

Plot:

A frustrated former big-city journalist now stuck working for an Albuquerque newspaper exploits a story about a man trapped in a cave to re-jump start his career, but the situation quickly escalates into an out-of-control circus.

Plot Keywords:

Newspaper | Trapped | Rescue | Reporter | New Mexico

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Kirk Douglas	...	Chuck Tatum
Jan Sterling	...	Lorraine Minosa
Robert Arthur	...	Herbie Cook (as Bob Arthur)
Porter Hall	...	Jacob Q. Boot
Frank Cady	...	Mr. Federber
Richard Benedict	...	Leo Minosa
Ray Teal	...	Sheriff Gus Kretzer
Lewis Martin	...	McCardle
John Berkes	...	Papa Minosa
Frances Dominguez	...	Mama Minosa
Gene Evans	...	Deputy Sheriff
Frank Jaquet	...	Sam Smollett
Harry Harvey	...	Dr. Hilton
Bob Bumpas	...	Radio Announcer
Geraldine Hall	...	Nellie Federber

Also Known As:

The Big Carnival (USA) (new title)
The Human Interest Story (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Latin

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:TV-14 (TV rating) | UK:A (1951) | Finland:K-16 | Iceland:L | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Actor Victor Desny brought a lawsuit against this film while the script was being written. He claimed the film was an unauthorized version of the Floyd Collins story. Collins was actually stuck in a cave years earlier, as mentioned in the film. Since Desny owned the rights to the Collins story, he claimed copyright infringement. Desny prevailed, although Wilder appealed. The California Supreme Court ruled in Desny's favor. (Desny v. Wilder, 46 Cal. 2d 715, 299 (Cal. Sup. Ct. 1956).)

Goofs:

Factual errors: Rattlesnakes will not eat bubble gum, in or out of the wrapper.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Charles Tatum: Hey. Pull up at the corner.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Portrait d'un homme 'à 60% parfait': Billy Wilder (1980)

Soundtrack:

The Hut-Sut Song

Billy Wilder should not call this powerful whiff of the journalism world "The runt" of his cinematic litter!

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. By spewing out bogus engineering, he manages the rescue of the poor man to become more complicated, and time consuming then needed. Meanwhile, it becomes an amazing news item, something that makes Tatum the best known reporter in the country. However, everybody's luck runs out at the end. Perhaps the cause of failure of this film is that there are no sympathetic characters here. Douglas plays a total creep, the trapped man's wife is a floozy "I'm not going to pray for him! Praying ruins my nylons!" in the film. Even the trapped man is somebody who was poking around Indian graves. The screenplay, and the lead performances are top class. The extensive location photography, and somewhat documentary look of the film makes the film feel more modern than most 1951 films. Billy Wilder calls this film "the runt of his litter" Don't be so harsh, Billy, it's an excellent picture!