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    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»Movies - 1950s
    Movies - 1950s Movies - A 3 Mins Read

    Ace In The Hole (1951)

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    On 30 January 1925, a man named William Floyd Collins became trapped underground while exploring a network of caves beneath his native Kentucky.

    Attempts to free him over the next two weeks became a nationwide sensation, thanks in part to regular wireless bulletins that fed news of the rescue effort to listeners across the country.

    Tens of thousands of tourists flocked to the site, creating a carnival atmosphere to match the media circus. By the time diggers got to him on 17 February, Floyd Collins had already starved to death.

    Twenty-five years later a young writer called Walter Newman suggested to Billy Wilder, then riding high on the success of Sunset Boulevard, that Floyd Collins’ story might make a good basis for a film.

    The end result was Ace In The Hole, a critique of gutter journalism in which cynical newspaper reporter Chuck Tatum delays the rescue of a man trapped underground to boost his career.

    Harsh, cruel and coruscating, the film – retitled The Big Carnival by Paramount in a doomed attempt to make it more palatable – was both a critical and a box office flop.

    It also prompted legal action from a bit-part actor named Victor Desny, who claimed he owned the rights to Floyd’s story and successfully sued Wilder and Paramount for plagiarism.

    These days, Ace In The Hole is recognised as a majestic, prescient cautionary tale on the perils of an unchecked press that also castigates the gawping, rubbernecking zombies who feast on strangers’ tragedies.

    At its centre is one of Kirk Douglas’ fiercest and most dynamic performances. His amoral Chuck Tatum jumps at the chance to exploit another man’s misery only to eventually become sickened by the depravity he unleashes.

    “I met a lot of hard-boiled eggs in my life, but you – you’re 20 minutes!” gasps the trapped man’s wife (Jan Sterling), an opportunistic floozy who will willingly play the part of loyal spouse if it means a ticket out of this dusty New Mexico backwater.

    Richard Benedict, meanwhile, breaks the heart as Floyd Collins’ stand-in, expiring slowly before our eyes while pathetically cradling the deluded belief Chuck has his best interests at heart.

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

    Director
    Billy Wilder

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