by Moe Zilla

Created on: September 27, 2008

Billy Wilder was a cynical director, but in 1951 he co-authored a dark satire. "Ace in the Hole" provides a disturbing glimpse of an American newsman in action, and the movie's screenplay ultimately was nominated for an Oscar. As the story builds to a climax, the reporter's ego begins to capture the excesses of America's journalists in all its ugly glory - and even fifty years later, real journalists recommend the movie as an example of what's wrong with the media of today.

Kirk Douglas plays a falling newspaper man who's guilty of an assortment of colorful sins - like drinking, libel, and hitting on the publisher's wife. The movie begins as he's rolling into Albuquerque - literally, since he's sitting in his broken car as it's towed from the highway - but he soon hustles a job at the town's newspaper. A year later he's still there, but he's desperate for a big story that can return him to the big newspapers in New York. And that's when he discovers a man who's trapped in a collapsing cave.

It's his "ace in the hole" - a human interest story that's gripping and irresistible. When local townspeople respond to his articles, he skillfully manipulates the events to advance his career. He strikes a deal with the local sheriff to guarantee him exclusive access to the cave. He convinces the victim's unhappy wife to behave more sympathetically. And he even decides to switch the details of the crucial rescue operation. (Why dig the man out in one day when the story could last for seven?)

It becomes a carnival - literally, as the throng of gawking locals attracts a traveling amusement park outside the cave. There's spectacular shots from the mountain looking down over the crowd - and soon the camera has spotted a train delivering still more tourists. But at the center of it all is the driven reporter, whose return to liquor is the first sign that his conscience is bothering him. He'd complained to his editor about a slogan on the wall advising "Tell the truth."

"It gets in my way."

The other characters are just as crooked - like the bleached-blonde wife who dreams of abandoning her husband and returning to New York City. The crooked sheriff enjoys playing with a baby rattlesnake he's adopted as a pet. But it's Kirk Douglas's reporter who's orchestrated all the events. And soon he realizes that if something goes wrong, he'll be the one who has to live with it.

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