Ace in the Hole (1951)

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.

Director:

Billy Wilder

Writers:

Billy Wilder, Lesser Samuels,

Stars:

Kirk Douglas, Jan Sterling, Robert Arthur

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kirk Douglas	...	Chuck Tatum
Jan Sterling	...	Lorraine Minosa
Robert Arthur	...	Herbie Cook (as Bob Arthur)
Porter Hall	...	Jacob Q. Boot
Frank Cady	...	Al 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

Storyline

Charles Tatum, a down-on-his-luck reporter, takes a job with a small New Mexico newspaper. The job is pretty boring until he finds a man trapped in an old Indian dwelling. He jumps at the chance to make a name for himself by taking over and prolonging the rescue effort, and feeding stories to major newspapers. He creates a national media sensation and milks it for all it is worth - until things go terribly wrong.

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Plot Keywords:

newspaper | trapped | reporter | rescue | cave | 

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Genres:

Drama | Film-Noir

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish Latin

Release Date:

29 June 1951 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Big Carnival

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,821,052 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When the film was released, it got bad reviews and lost money. The studio, without Billy Wilder's permission, changed the title to "The Big Carnival" to increase the box office take of the film. It didn't work. On top of that, Billy Wilder's next picture Stalag 17 was a hit and Billy Wilder expected a share of the Stalag 17's profits. Paramount accountants told him that since this picture lost money, the money it lost would be subtracted from the profits of Stalag 17.

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Goofs

When Lorraine and Chuck are talking out in front of Minosa's store by the gas pumps, reflections of the crew moving around behind the camera can be seen in the store windows.

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Quotes

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

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Connections

Referenced in Mad City (1997)

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Soundtracks

"The Hut-Sut Song"
(uncredited)
Written by Leo Killion, Ted McMichael and Jack Owens
Sung by Richard Benedict and Kirk Douglas

User Reviews

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!