by Reid Williams
Film noir often features semi-moral detectives, dark, mysterious forces, and ever-enclosing urban settings. This is not the case in Billy Wilder’s 1951 masterpiece Ace in the Hole. Instead, Wilder shows that even in a world drenched in sunlight, the darkness of the human soul can do just as much damage.
Released in 1951, Ace in the Hole was the immediate follow-up to Wilder’s massively successful Sunset Boulevard. However, despite riding the back of Boulevard’s success, Ace in the Hole was still a massive flop. It was even re-released under a different title (The Big Circus), but with no more success. However, years after its initial release, people began to greatly appreciate the brutal honesty and darkness at the heart of Wilder’s picture, and now Ace in the Hole is considered a classic piece of film noir by one of its greatest creators.
With the amount of talent involved and such clear merit as a film, why was there so little theatrical success? Movies perform poorly for any number of reasons, and I don’t claim to know everything that went into the initial failure of this film, but I would speculate that many in 1951 were not ready for the shocking mirror Wilder held up to the news media, and to some extent, humanity as a whole.
Kirk Douglas gives one of his finest performances as Chuck Tatum, a newswriter who has been fired from more papers than he can count. He sets up shop in Albuquerque, New Mexico while he waits for a story that will boost him back into relevance. His lucky day comes when he stumbles upon a man trapped in a cave. The attempt to free him turns into a media circus, drawing eyes and bodies from all around, and reveals the opportunist within everyone involved.
Before moving into designated spoiler territory, I want to give a final pitch for anyone who has not seen this film. For starters, Kirk Douglas outdoes himself in this film, playing the charming and conniving Tatum with venom and wit, culminating in what is truly one of the best antihero performances I’ve seen. The film is packed to the brim with fascinating supporting characters, all playing their own angles and being drawn more and more into the web of corruption Tatum weaves. Above all, the film is fantastically fun to watch. Wilder, one of the best dialogue writers in Hollywood history, is in top form here, rivaling even his best work. Douglas and company draw you into the madness of the scenario, putting us on equal footing with the passers-by seeking entertainment from one man’s agony. While the movie may be condemning (even to its watchers), it is a fascinating watch on the way there. With that said, I’ll issue my spoiler warning.
One of my favorite things about this film is the progressive unveiling of darkness within so many of the people involved. Through the first few minutes of the film, it appears that Tatum serves as a wrecking ball of immorality, sent directly from the big city, to darken the lives of the small town residents he encounters. However, as the film progresses, it refuses to allow the dichotomy of urban immorality and rural uprightness. The clearest example of this is the trapped man’s wife, Lorraine (played with chilling coldness by Jan Sterling), followed closely by the for-sale sheriff, Gus (Ray Teal). With her husband, Leo (Richard Benedict), trapped in a cave, Lorraine attempts to abandon him. She is only convinced to stay because Tatum proves that she can make a large profit by sticking around just a little bit longer, a chance she eventually jumps at. The Sheriff is not much better, as he conspires with Tatum to slow down the rescue process in order to gain more votes from the popularity of the event. These (as well as others) highlight that it is not just Tatum and his seizing of opportunity that creates the situation. Once presented with the opportunity to benefit from someone else’s misfortune, others jump at it. This, of course, presents the moral question of how often people may potentially do the same thing. It is almost impossible to know until an opportunity presents itself. However, it seems Wilder thinks that it is not far-fetched that many would compromise their morals if the right benefit is waived under their nose.
To a less intense degree, Wilder also indicts the crowd as a whole, which is where many who may not fall into the all-out opportunist category seem to fall. It’s next to undeniable that (especially in America), people have an unhealthy obsession with tragedy. While the blame could fall on the shoulders of the news media, they are, essentially, meeting a need. As Tatum remarks early on, “Bad news sells best, because good news is no news.” The ever-growing crowd around the rescue operation makes Wilder’s thoughts apparent. From the stands and salesmen taking advantage of the situation to the families debating over who was the “first” to arrive at this event, it seems everyone has an angle they are chasing, even if it just to enjoy the event created by a man’s misfortune.
Beyond the heavy themes, the film also contains one of the most interesting characters in cinema history: Douglas’ Tatum. His tenacity and single-mindedness is oddly inspiring. Like a dog with bone, once he realizes what he has in his hand, he refuses to let it go. He will have no distractions, and he will have no compromises. Nowhere is this more evident than the fateful encounter with Lorraine, where she makes an advance at him that he blatantly refuses, because it doesn’t suit the story he’s writing. He truly sees her as nothing beyond the story she is helping him tell. Tatum has no interest in being human. He’s a newspaperman, and being human would put him at a distinct disadvantage.
Potentially the most despicable part of all of Tatum’s conniving is the relationship he builds with Leo. Establishing himself as the one connecting point between the crowd and the man inside, Tatum sells himself as a friend to Leo, doing everything he can to rescue him. Leo (a reliably poor judge of character) clearly considers Tatum to be a friend, and confides in him, even as he approaches death.
If there was any debate as to how cynical Wilder was trying to be in this film, the unforgettable ending fully drives the point home. Due to the delays instituted by Tatum, Leo dies in the cave mere hours before the rescue team can reach him. Tatum, stabbed by Lorraine, finally seems to gain perspective as he circles the drain of death. He shuts down the circus he created, goes back to his old office, and collapses toward the camera in an unforgettable final shot. However, Lorraine gets away clean, and it can be assumed the same happens to the Sheriff. So, though some do pay for their crimes, this is not the case for everyone. The media and casual watchers all move on with their lives, at least until their next tragic fix presents itself. Meanwhile, Tatum dies in the office that celebrates truth, and Leo lies dead at the bottom of the cave. Few endings are more poignant and lasting, and it is a fitting ending to another masterwork from Wilder.