Ace in the Hole is a 1951 film starring Kirk Douglas, directed by Billy Wilder and released by Paramount Pictures. Image File history File links Ace. ... Billy Wilder (June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-born, Jewish-American journalist, screenwriter, film director, and producer whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. ... Billy Wilder (June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-born, Jewish-American journalist, screenwriter, film director, and producer whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. ... Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch Demsky December 9, 1916) is an American actor and film producer known for his gravelly voice and his recurring roles as the kinds of characters Douglas himself once described as sons of bitches. He is also father to Hollywood actor and producer Michael Douglas. ... One of Hollywoods most talented and versatile stars, often cool and stunning blonde in Hollywood film noir movies of the 1940s and 50s, the actrees Jan Sterling ensured audiences of a real good time with her sexy roles in soaps, crime action and comedies. ... The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. ... Hugo Wilhelm Friedhofer (May 3, 1901 - May 17, 1981) was a film music composer born in San Francisco. ... Charles Lang (March 22, 1902 – April 3, 1998) was a noted film cinematographer. ... Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production and distribution company, based in Hollywood, California. ... July 29 is the 210th day of the year (211th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch Demsky December 9, 1916) is an American actor and film producer known for his gravelly voice and his recurring roles as the kinds of characters Douglas himself once described as sons of bitches. He is also father to Hollywood actor and producer Michael Douglas. ... Billy Wilder (June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-born, Jewish-American journalist, screenwriter, film director, and producer whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. ... Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production and distribution company, based in Hollywood, California. ...

Wilder examines the seedy relationship between the media and the news it reports in this cynical satire. Originally released theatrically as Ace in the Hole, The Big Carnival is the title used for the film's re-release and most early television airings. The "carnival" in the title refers to the media circus surrounding the events in the movie.

The film has been seldom shown on television over the years (with the exception of two recent showings on Turner Classic Movies), and will be available on video for the first time via The Criterion Collection in July 2007. Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is a cable television channel featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and Warner Bros. ... The Criterion Collection logo The Criterion Collection is a privately held company that distributes authoritative consumer versions of important classic and contemporary films on DVD. It was established in 1984 as a joint venture between Janus Films and the Voyager Company. ...

Plot

Kirk Douglas portrays Charles 'Chuck' Tatum, a cynical, down-on-his-luck reporter for a small New Mexico paper. While on assignment covering a rattlesnake hunt Tatum finds out about a man, played by Richard Benedict, who has become trapped in a cave collapse. Tatum sees his chance to make it big again, and manages to delay the rescue in order to benefit from the fame his exclusive reporting is bringing. The victim's wife, played by Jan Sterling, also has eyes for Tatum. As this goes on, people flock to the mine to witness the rescue. By the time the movie is over, the rescue site has literally become a carnival, with rides and entertainment. One of Hollywoods most talented and versatile stars, often cool and stunning blonde in Hollywood film noir movies of the 1940s and 50s, the actrees Jan Sterling ensured audiences of a real good time with her sexy roles in soaps, crime action and comedies. ...

Critical reaction

Reviews of the film today are mixed but mostly favorable. J. Hoberman of the Village Voice states: "Ace in the Hole is by no means a great—or even a particularly good—movie, but its sustained nastiness shows a stunning disregard for box-office niceties".[1] Slant magazine's Ed Gonzalez says of the film, "Not unlike Fritz Lang's equally misanthropic Scarlet Street, Ace in the Hole plays the squashing of one man's human spirit for societal-weary gravitas."[2] Friedrich Anton Christian Lang (December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976) was an Austrian-American film director, screenwriter and occasional film producer, one of the best known émigrés from Germanys school of expressionism. ... Scarlet Street is an American film noir from 1945. ...

Awards and nominations

The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Story and Screenplay. Academy Award The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremony in the world. ...

Real-life events

Ace in the Hole is loosely based on events surrounding the 1925 entrapment and death of W. Floyd Collins in Sand Cave, Kentucky. A Louisville newspaper, the Courier-Journal, jumped on the story of the imperiled Collins by dispatching a reporter named William Burke Miller {nicknamed "Skeets"} to the scene. Miller's enterprising coverage turned the tragic episode into a national event and earned Miller a Pulitzer Prize. Floyd Collins William Floyd Collins (July 20, 1887 - c. ... The Rotunda Room at Mammoth Cave. ... “Louisville” redirects here. ... Categories: Stub | Newspapers in Kentucky | Louisville, Kentucky ... William Burke Skeets Miller (c. ... The Pulitzer Prize is an American award regarded as the highest national honor in print journalism, literary achievements, and musical composition. ...

Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Wikiquote is a sister project of Wikipedia, using the same MediaWiki software. ...

Cast

• Kirk Douglas as Charles 'Chuck' Tatum
• Jan Sterling as Lorraine Minosa
• Robert Arthur as Herbie Cook
• Porter Hall as Jacob Q. Boot
• Frank Cady as Mr. Federber
• Richard Benedict as Leo Minosa
• Ray Teal as Sherriff

Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch Demsky December 9, 1916) is an American actor and film producer known for his gravelly voice and his recurring roles as the kinds of characters Douglas himself once described as sons of bitches. He is also father to Hollywood actor and producer Michael Douglas. ... One of Hollywoods most talented and versatile stars, often cool and stunning blonde in Hollywood film noir movies of the 1940s and 50s, the actrees Jan Sterling ensured audiences of a real good time with her sexy roles in soaps, crime action and comedies. ... The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. ... Porter Hall (September 19, 1888 - October 6, 1953) was a film actor known for appearing in a number of films in the 1930s and 1940s many times, due to a weak chin and shifty eyes, playing movie villians. ... Frank Cady Frank Cady (born September 8, 1915 in Susanville, California), is an American actor best known for his role as storekeeper Sam Drucker in the Green Acres and Petticoat Junction television series, which both ran at the same time in the 1960s. ... Richard Pepe Benedict (January 8, 1920 - April 25, 1984) was an Italian-born television and film actor and director. ... Ray Teal 12 January 1902, Grand Rapids, Michigan USA 2 April 1976, was an actor who appeared in more than 250 movies and over 90 television programs in his 37 year career. ...

External links

• Ace in the Hole at the Internet Movie Database
• Thoughts on Ace in the Hole
• Mad City at the Internet Movie Database, a remake of Ace in the Hole