Ace in the Hole (USA; Billy Wilder, 1951)

 To what lengths will a reporter go to make a good story great? That's the question Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas) attempts to clarify in Ace in the Hole, Billy Wilder's rendition of the newspaper movie. Having been successful in almost every other genre (except perhaps the western), I find it surprsing that Ace is known to be a flop in his illustrious career. Much darker and cynical then Hawks' His Girl Friday (which incidentally Wilder remade himself almost 25 years later as The Front Page, taking back the original title of the play), the film paints a rather bleak picture of the media in which deception, exploitation and self-destruction seem to be the prevailing norm. When big-city-exiled hotshot reporter Tatum lands himself in Alburquerque, NM following a series of job terminations, his enthusiasm for big news is left wanting when big headlines talk of rattle snake hunting festivals. When he accidentally comes across a man trapped in cave (Richard Benedict), he sees the big story he was looking for and his way back into a big-city newspaper. Using his loose-lipped, fast-talking big-city edge, Tatum delays the rescue to stretch the story out, turning this small-town tragedy into a big carnival (the title to which it was changed following poor intitial reception). As he deals with contemptuous editors, the victim's treacherous wife and his own moral dilemna, Tatum soon grows wary of his own profession as his actions ultimately make up the difference between life and death.

   On par with many other films about the media (Sweet Smell of Success; Network), what distinguishes Ace is its setting. As opposed to being set in the urban jungle, as most newspaper films are, we are thrown into the desert, a spot as remote from civilization as it is from viewers consciousness. In doing so, Wilder examines media practices outside of its normal turf of manipulation, dealing with small-town citizens who may not be as used to the tricks of the journalism trade as big-city dwellers. When not taken for granted, the exploitations of the media are seen to cause harm and irreperable damage, serving to destroy the communities they purport to enlighten.