Watch it at Amazon
39 out of 46 people found the following comment useful :- The Press as the Vehicle of Manipulation of a Nation, 16 January 2005 Author: Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The cynical, unethical and unscrupulous journalist Charles 'Chuck' Tatum (Kirk Douglas) arrives in a small New Mexico newspaper asking for a chance. He was fired from famous newspapers because of drinking problem, lying and even for having an affair with the wife of one of his bosses. His real intention is to use the small newspaper as a "swimming board" to a bigger one. After one year without a bang news and totally bored, Chuck travels with a younger reporter to make the coverage of a matter about rattlesnakes. When they arrive in an isolated gas station, he is informed that a man called Leo Minosa (Richard Benedict) is trapped alive in an old Indian mine in a nearby place called Mountain of the Seven Vultures. Chuck manipulates the local corrupt sheriff, the engineer responsible for the rescue operation and Leo's wife Lorraine Minosa (Jan Sterling), and a rescue that could be made using a simple and common process in twelve hours, lasts six days using a sophisticated drilling system and creating a circus in the previously desert place. Everybody profits with the accident except the victim. Movies about manipulation of people are usually excellent. I remember Costa-Gravas' "Mad City (1997), Barry Levinson's "Wag the Dog (1997)", Howard Hawks' "His Girl Friday (1940)", and even the recent real case of the chemical weapons. Yesterday I saw "Ace in the Hole" for the first time and I really was impressed how this film is amazingly real and updated. There are elements present in every modern society, such as: the powerful sheriff very corrupt, like most of the worldwide members of the governments; the press, interested in selling news only; the victim used for other interests greater than rescuing him; and the people, completely manipulated and with very short memory. Kirk Douglas is amazing in the role of a nasty reporter. I do not understand why this movie is not in the IMDb Top 250. My vote is ten.Title (Brazil): "A Montanha dos Sete Abutres" ("The Mountain of the Seven Vultures")
40 out of 49 people found the following comment useful :- Billy Wilder should not call this powerful whiff of the journalism world "The runt" of his cinematic litter!, 24 November 1998 Author: Glenn Andreiev (gandreiev@aol.com) from Huntington, NY
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!
29 out of 38 people found the following comment useful :- Evil carnival, 18 June 2001 Author: dbdumonteil
Fifty years later,Billy Wilder's tour de force has worn so well it should be considered the finest movie dealing with the media,topping "network" for instance.The world described here is so depressing,so disheartening that it takes drama to new limits.Not only Tatum is evil,but so are the miner's wife and family who take advantage of the situation ,regardless of any morals.So is the faceless crowd ,who has a wild time, near a dying man.You and me,we could be part of this populace,and maybe we've already been!Remember the little South American girl who fell into a pit in the eighties.The fair sequences might have influenced Fellini for "la dolce vita" (hype about a girl who would have seen the Virgin Mary).The soundtrack ,with its relentless thud ,is so oppressive you feel the unfortunate victim's plight within your body and your soul .
23 out of 28 people found the following comment useful :- A great film, 7 January 2006 Author: zinkster from Winchester, Mass.
One of Billy Wilder's great movies, with a superb acting job by Kirk Douglas as the cynical, glory-seeking and even desperate reporter whose only goal is get back in the limelight by regaining his former big-city news desk job. The idea of such a newspaper reporter manipulating events to stretch out a story at the expense of and disregard for the victim still seems nearly inhuman, but Douglas' performance makes it instantly believable. The story scenario in which locals, then passers-by and finally distant tourists gravitate to and then make a festival or circus out of the event (the film was also released under the title "The Big Carnival") is supported by the real events on which the story was most likely based: the West VA mine disaster in 1925 that trapped miner Floyd Collins and was reported for 17 days, much as in the film, by local newspaperman Skeets Miller, who crawled into the mineshaft for face-to-face interviews with the trapped and doomed Collins.This movie fits nicely into the Film Noir genre, although it takes place largely under the hot, harsh glare of the Arizona sun, highlighting the sweat and grime visible on the characters' skin and creating a visual metaphor for the sorry state of their souls. I wonder if Henri-Georges Clouzot saw this film before he began filming "The Wages of Fear," because the visually pervasive atmosphere of sweat and filth and opportunism are equally present in both.
18 out of 23 people found the following comment useful :- Media of 1951 acting like media of 2001, 9 March 2001 Author: smatysia (feldene@comcast.net) from Houston
A powerful toasting of the media of the day. Imagine what this would have been like in the age of television. Kirk Douglas plays a self-centered heel, and does so very well. I also liked Jan Sterling as Lorraine. It's true that there is no really sympathetic character in this film, except maybe Leo, the man trapped in the cave. Someone wrote that he too, wasn't a sympathetic character, because he was trapped while collecting Indian artifacts for sale, but I don't think that would have bothered anyone in 1951. The tone of the film throughout was one of total cynicism, that seems a bit out of place for the times. Maybe that's why this movie was not a commercial success. It fits much better now, though, since everyone has seen the media behaving in such disgraceful fashion. However, that may rob it of some of its (probably intended) shock value. Grade: A
14 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :- A brilliant movie that lingers in the mind, 27 March 2004 Author: dbtuson-1 from boston
Of the many movies I viewed in the early 50's, so many ,like now, were here today, forgotten tomorrow. However some movies that became memorable and that were able to make a dramatic impact on this young guy include, Duel in the Sun and Gone with the Wind. Strangely enough, Ace in the Hole is the most memorable of all movies viewed. It is one that invades the mind and leaves one sad.Few films I remember as vividly as this dark movie, the images linger to haunt me still. 'Why?' one might ask 'would a sombre movie like this made over 50 years ago remain so memorable, when so many others have vanished. Was it the surreal inhumanity of the plot, the repugnant newsman devoid of ethics, the exploitation of the trapped victim, the purposeful prolonging of the victim's entrapment to create a media frenzy, the ultimate commercial creation of an 'event' style attraction complete with a circus like atmosphere surrounding the cave while the victim remained entrapped and close to death.'Supposedly based on a real incident, it's a tough movie to watch and more so if one is prepared to accept the premise that such inhumanity displayed in the movie has an element of truth.I echo the desires of others to have the availability of this movie on VHS or DVD. In the interim my memory will continue to keep the images intact. See it if you can.
16 out of 20 people found the following comment useful :- A Prophetic film, 3 June 2002 Author: noir1991 from Los Angeles, CA
There are some films that when you see them you ask why they aren't available to rent or own. This is one of them. I had the fortune of seeing this hidden gem on the big screen and was pleasantly surprised. With Kirk Douglas playing a Reporter whose been around the block, always looking for a shortcut, comes across an opportunity to exploit a man caught in a mine shaft. I have read where critics had considered the circus atmosphere of the the film unrealistic. It seems Mr. Wilder got the last laugh. If you are interesting in great dialogue and good story telling, I suggest you find this
18 out of 24 people found the following comment useful :- a neglected gem, 18 December 2005 Author: daisy612 from United States
*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
I first saw this film in 1951. At least two decades passed before it was occasionally shown on network TV, usually on local afternoon movie programs. The lack of a happy ending (to put it mildly) may have played a part. A flop when it was originally released (and referred to by Billy Wilder as "the runt of the litter"), this movie is still not available in DVD or VHS. This is a shame, because it is a taut, very cynical, and extremely well-made rumination on the idea of media observation and manipulation, and the easy corruption of otherwise earnest citizens.The movie also contains what I feel is the single greatest scene in all moviedom: An extremely high view of a trainload of gawkers arriving at the "big carnival" (the movie's alternate title), along with the soundtrack of a made-for-the-movie country-western song. You'll know it when you see it. Observe as well the hordes of people and cars, the cast of thousands, assembled for the exterior shots. This was not digital, it was casting and logistics and bullhorns and the gimlet-eyed vision of the director.Do not miss this treasure!
18 out of 26 people found the following comment useful :- wow!, 11 December 2002 Author: hipthornton (hipthornton@webtv.net)
Saw this films years ago and it's still gripping.Mr.Wilder seldom did films that gripped the human condition like this one.After this movie flopped he stuck to screen adaptions of stage hits through most of the fifties.Both director and star,Kirk Douglas really delivered a stinging expose of media hype and manipulation of the newspaper business.Herein,burned out reporter Douglas chances on a man trapped in a cave and ruthlessly exploits it for his own gain.There's no softness here,even the leading lady (played wonderfully by Jan Sterling)is as hard as Douglas.The scenes of all the gawkers showing up,complete with carnival,are outright creepy.There's even a cheesy country western singer plunking a guitar and singing about poor Leo,(the trapped man.) The only sympathetic person is poor Leo's mom who continually prays for his release.Definitely a film for lovers of great movie drama.
8 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :- It still retains its power, 14 October 2004 Author: John Simpson (post@jandesimpson.wanadoo.co.uk) from Hastings, England
SPOILERSI have recently embarked on a chronological retrospective of the works of Billy Wilder that is proving to be a wayward journey through some pretty uneven territory. He hit the jackpot early on with "Double Idemnity" a film noir with a script that is simply light years away in quality from most others of the genre. Then came a really duff period with "The Lost Weekend", worthy in many respects, not least for Ray Milland's superb performance as an alcoholic, but drowned in a plethora of hysterical visuals and a Miklos Rozsa score to beat them all in over-intrusiveness; the daft Austrian never-never-land of "The Emperor Waltz"; the equally daft mission by the unbelievable Congresswoman Frost to investigate what the military rank and file were getting up to in the postwar Berlin of "A Foreign Affair" and, to cap it all, that lurid melodrama "Sunset Boulevard" which leaves me completely out of step with its many admirers. The cocktail that includes a dead monkey, a German "heavy" manservant playing an organ, a has-been ex-actress and her toyboy who delivers the interior monologue when he becomes a corpse in a swimming pool is just too over the top for me. "Ace in the Hole" that followed is an altogether different matter. I have to admit it was the one I was not looking forward to as I had glowing memories of it as a youth. The pedestal of adolescent worship has on more that one occasion easily toppled. Imagine my delight when I discovered that time has in no way reduced the intensity of this savage attack on the power of a newspaperman to exploit human suffering to further his ambition. Politicians, construction overseers, the general public - their ghoulish instincts played upon - all are corrupted in Wilder's cynical attack on the basest impulses of mankind. It is a film where only the weak, the man trapped in the cave, his parents and the editor of a conservative local newspaper, show any sign of virtue. And yet, in the sense of dignity with which Wilder depicts them, they are the real winners, whereas the corrupt journalist, brilliantly played by Kirk Douglas, ends up by losing everything including that gift of life he has so cruelly deprived of the trapped man. In "Ace in the Hole" Wilder gave us a beautifully balanced moral drama, his only work to stand beside the best of Elia Kazan in its sense of social conscience. I know there are quite a few more excellent thing to come in his oeuvre but at this point I cannot imagine anything finer.
Add another comment
