Ace in the Hole - Kirk Douglas

(aka 'The Big Carnival' or 'The Human Interest Story')

Directed by Billy Wilder
USA 1951

One of the most scathing indictments of American culture ever produced by a Hollywood filmmaker, Billy Wilder’s Ace in the Hole is legendary for both its cutting social critique and its status as a hard-to-find cult classic. Kirk Douglas gives the fiercest performance of his career as Chuck Tatum, an amoral newspaper reporter caught in dead-end Albuquerque who happens upon the story of a lifetime—and will do anything to ensure he gets the scoop. Wilder’s follow-up to Sunset Boulevard is an even darker vision, a no-holds-barred exposé that anticipated the rise of the American media circus.

****

Kirk Douglas is magnificent as the self-serving reporter who, in order to milk it to fame and boost newspaper sales, prolongs the rescue of a man trapped in a mine. This was director Wilder's biggest commercial flop, but the film he regarded as his best. It's a cynical piece of work, but is prophetic in realizing how tabloid values can lead a journalist to create rather than report a story. Douglas is a self-serving reporter who has been fired from his last 11 jobs and washes up in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
When he comes across a man trapped in a mine, he persuades the rescuers to delay freeing the victim until he has interviewed him and whipped up a nationwide media feeding frenzy. This journalist badly wants to win the Pulitzer Prize and nothing will stand in his way. Douglas puts a perfect spin of self-loathing on his character in what is certainly one of his better performances.

Excerpt from Channel 4 located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: June 15th, 1951

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DVD Review: Criterion (2-disc) - Region 1 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Criterion Collection - Spine #396 - Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime	1:51:08
Video	1.33:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 8.72 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 1.0)
Subtitles	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Criterion Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Audio commentary by film scholar Neil Sinyard • Theatrical trailer Disc 2 • Portrait of a "60% Perfect Man": Billy Wilder, a 1980 documentary featuring in-depth interviews with Wilder by film critic Michel Ciment (58:24) • A 1984 interview with Kirk Douglas by filmmaker and film scholar Michael Thomas (14:17) • Excerpts from a 1986 appearance by Wilder at the American Film Institute (23:36) • Excerpts from an audio interview with coscreenwriter Walter Newman • New video afterword by filmmaker Spike Lee (5:39) • Stills gallery • Liner notes booklet featuring new essays by film critic Molly Haskell and filmmaker Guy Maddin DVD Release Date: July 17th, 2007 Transparent Keep Case Chapters: 27

Comments:

Criterion brings this intense, cynical masterpiece to a wonderful progressive, yet still pictureboxed, transfer to DVD (see our description of 'pictureboxing' in our Kind Hearts and Coronets review). Contrast and detail are at levels that other production companies can only dream of aspiring. This 56 year-old film looks very strong, clean and relatively damage free. Artifacts at are a bare minimum and I have no strong complaints except some very minor, and infrequent, flickering and one damaged scene at around the 42 minute mark. Audio is original mono - clear and consistent - and optional English subtitles are offered.

The package is stacked with extras - first a sterling commentary by scholar Neil Sinyard. A lot of valuable information is imparted in a timely and professional manner (with a comforting accent). Sharing disc 1 is a 2:21 theatrical trailer. On disc 2 we have a 1980 documentary (hour long) called Portrait of a "60% Perfect Man": Billy Wilder. It features in-depth interviews with Wilder by film critic Michel Ciment. It is quite revealing about the director - worth watching for sure. There is an excerpt from a 1986 American Film Institute sidebar - it lasts about 24 minutes. I quite enjoyed the 1984 interview with Kirk Douglas by a filmmaker and film scholar by the name of Michael Thomas - Kirk is always so larger than life. It was probably just my system but I couldn't get the audio interview with co-screenwriter Walter Newman to work, but I did enjoy the brief afterword by filmmaker Spike Lee about the film. Also included is a stills gallery and a newspaper-style liner notes (4 large pages) with plenty of photos and 2 essays by film critic Molly Haskell and one by filmmaker Guy Maddin.