ACE IN THE HOLE
(1951)With Kirk Douglas, Jan Sterling, Robert Arthur, Porter Hall, Frank Cady
Co-Written and Directed by Billy Wilder
Black and White
Reviewed by JL
Billy Wilder could make populist entertainment for
the masses (SABRINA, THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS, SOME LIKE IT HOT), but
his enduring legacy is based more on those films in which he explores
the dark underbelly of American culture. Lust (DOUBLE
INDEMNITY), alcohol (THE LOST WEEKEND), delusion (SUNSET BOULEVARD),
and greed (THE FORTUNE COOKIE) are among the forces that corrupt the
Wilder hero (a term used loosely in this context), with the central
irony being that those forces are a product of the very culture with
which the hero is in conflict.
A quest for both power and redemption
compels Kirk Douglas to forsake any moral code in Wilder's ACE IN THE
HOLE (a.k.a. THE BIG CARNIVAL). Douglas, a down-and-out
reporter recently fired from yet another job, stumbles upon the scoop
of the year while drifting through New Mexico. A miner has
been trapped in a cave-in and, though he is able to receive food and
water, his injuries are life-threatening and timely rescue is of
critical importance. Sensing an opportunity for journalistic
stardom, Douglas bribes the chief of the rescue crew to take the
slowest route possible to the trapped man, thereby allowing Douglas to
milk the story for all its worth during the next several
days. Soon, gawking tourists have turned the cave-in site
into a morbid Disneyland, complete with souvenir hawkers and carnival
rides.
A critical disappointment and
commercial failure when first released, ACE IN THE HOLE seemed perhaps
too hysterical and melodramatic for its time. The film became
a cult favorite in subsequent years (its copyright tangles and
infrequent television showings merely adding to its lore) and now seems
eerily prescient in its skewering of the unscrupulous news
media. Kirk Douglas, who once said "I made a career out of
playing sons-of-bitches," delivers a gale-force performance as an SOB
who is equal parts magnetic and repulsive. Justice may be
served by the film's tragic ending, but we are left unsure if it is
Douglas or society that deserves the larger share of our contempt.
Largely unseen for years until its DVD
release in 2007, ACE IN THE HOLE has now earned its rightful place
among Wilder's masterpieces. As with SUNSET BOULEVARD, Wilder
succeeds in crafting compelling entertainment out of unpleasant and
macabre subject matter. 
½ - JL
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