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| Ace in the Hole (1951) |
| Background
Maverick Austrian-born Wilder, the writer and director of a number of daring, caustic, provocative films with controversial themes, ultimately received 21 Academy Award nominations and won 6 Oscars during his long career. His wit and unflinching eye for hypocrisy produced a number of film classics, including a tale of adultery and murder in Double Indemnity (1944), the scourge of alcoholism in The Lost Weekend (1945), the cynical film about Hollywood in Sunset Boulevard (1950), the critique of commercial exploitation within American journalism and the media in Ace in the Hole (1951), the gender-bending comedy of the hit Some Like It Hot (1959), and the shallowness of corporate ladder-climbing in The Apartment (1960). The film inspired Robert Penn Warren's novelization "The Cave" published in 1959, and set in fictional Johntown, Tennessee. The pungent plot of Ace in the Hole - about excessive "below-the-belt" journalism - was personified in its main character - the stranded, stagnating, and down-and-out East Coast news-reporter Charles 'Chuck' Tatum (Kirk Douglas) at the Albuquerque Sun-Bulletin in New Mexico. He was looking for a way to make money and boost his sour and drunken reputation after many failures. The quick-thinking, smooth-tongued newsman took advantage of a minor news-story about a spelunker named Leo Minosa who became trapped in a cave-in while searching for ancient Indian artifacts. The amoral and depraved reporter milked it into a juicy, big-scoop event by promoting the situation with national media publicity that brought a feeding frenzy of curious tourists to descend upon the site and gawk at the tragedy, while capitalizing on the public's interest and delaying the rescue efforts. The unethical Tatum succeeded in manipulating the news media, the construction engineers, the local crooked sheriff who sought reelection in the county, and the victim's opportunistic, jaded and mercenary wife. The site of the accident soon became engulfed with profiteers and a spectacle resembling a circus amusement park, as the cursed victim died of pneumonia in the darkness of the cave. After the hypocritical rescue efforts were uncovered, Tatum received his come-uppance when he expressed some guilt and remorse over his unscrupulous actions - and dropped dead back where he started. The film-noirish story was enhanced by the expressionistic black and white cinematography of Charles Lang, who capitalized on the blindingly bright and overexposed landscapes of the desert Southwest. On-site filming about 15-20 miles west of Gallup, NM necessitated the creation of a gigantic set that was 235 feet high, 1,200 feet wide, and 1,600 feet deep - an area including the ancient cliffside, the enormous carnival site with concession stands, rides, and booths, a huge parking lot (with hundreds of rented cars), and over a thousand extras for the crowd scenes. In contrast to the exteriors were the interior dark recesses of the labyrinthine cave-shaft sequences (shot in a studio) that were particularly allegorical - signifying the impenetrable blackness of the twisted mind of the self-destructive protagonist, as he schemed and descended further and further into his own entrapped existential state - literally a hole from which he couldn't escape. After its first release, Paramount Studios was so concerned about the misanthropic film's unrelenting cynicism, anti-Americanism, and poor box-office that they unsuccessfully changed its name and rebranded it as "The Big Carnival." The film's clever title "Ace in the Hole" had two distinct meanings:
The film's taglines emphasized the amoral sensationalizing and manipulation of the media by the news-reporter:
There were two real-life events that served as historical precedents for the film's central plot - the exploitative stage-management of an "ace in the hole" media-frenzied story at the site of a tragedy.
The film was made for a budget of about $1.8 million, but it became Billy Wilder's first major financial box-office disaster since he began a long string of hits beginning in the early 1940s. It received only one Academy Award nomination for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay, and was defeated by the year's Best Picture winner An American in Paris (1951) - and specifically, by Alan Jay Lerner's script for the musical. The Story The black and white film's title credits, with white lettering, were shot with the camera pointed down at a dry plot of earthly soil or dirt. Dirt had a significant role to play in the film:
In the Outer Office of the Albuquerque Sun-Bulletin Newspaper: A tracking shot picked up a tow truck from Chico's Garage, a Repair and Towing Service in Albuquerque, NM that was towing an open convertible sedan-coupe (with white-walled tires) suspended from its front end by a hoist. Behind the wheel of the broken-down sedan was its chauffeured owner - calmly reading a local newspaper. In the memorable entrance scene, the down-on-his-luck car owner was wearing a hat and a double-breasted suit. He sat up and looked around - and yelled for the tow driver to stop in front of the Albuquerque Sun-Bulletin building. He exited from the car onto the sidewalk where some Native Americans (in traditional tribal dress) were standing and walking by. Inside the office, he rudely greeted one of the Indian news editors (Iron Eyes Cody) (wearing his long hair pulled back) with the condescending Indian expression: "How!" without any sense of respect for cultural differences. He brashly walked through the busy newsroom office, and then to demand everyone's attention, he struck the return key on one of the typewriters so the return-carriage would noisily slide across and the bell would ding - to punctuate his assertive arrival. He conducted a verbal give-and-take with young junior reporter-photographer Herbie Cook (Robert Arthur), asking if he could speak to the boss - identified as editor-in-chief and publisher Mr. Jacob Q. Boot (Porter Hall). He then identified himself as: Charles (or 'Chuck') Tatum (Kirk Douglas) from New York. From his demeanor, Tatum was self-important, slightly belligerent, and contemptuous of New Mexico. He passed on a question he wanted answered by the boss: "How would he like to make himself a fast $200 dollars a week?" Before Herbie left his desk to deliver the message, the young boy had already sized up Tatum, calling him "cagey." As he awaited an opportunity to speak to Boot, Tatum snatched a cigarette and match from Herbie's desk, and lit it on the moving carriage of the typewriter - exemplifying his self-igniting demeanor. He also asked the older secretary Miss Deverich (Edith Evanson) about a framed, hand-embroidered, needle-point sampler on the wall with the boss' motto: "TELL THE TRUTH."
She told him: "Mr. Boot said it, but I did the needlework." He replied with a snarky comment: "I wish I could coin them like that. If I ever do, would you embroider it for me?" A Disgraced Reporter's Job Application and Interview: When given an audience with Boot, the arrogant, swaggering and critical Tatum started off with a flurry of insults. He offered his candid, low opinion of the daily newspaper that cost a nickel:
Then, with a passive-aggressive statement about Boot's ignorance ("apparently, you're not familiar with my name"), he bragged about his own experience in the newspaper business as a cocky reporter that had worked in many other big-city markets - he spread samples of his newspaper clippings, with his bylines, onto Boot's desk:
When asked why his asking salary (of $50/week, and then reduced to $45 and ultimately to $40) was so cheap (and a fraction of what he used to command), the self-obsessed and pushy Tatum bullied his way forward. He boasted immodestly that he was a multi-talented, top-notch reporter, who was capable of creating news by 'biting a dog' (a prophetic, allegorical description of the depths he would descend to in getting a news-story). However, he had been fired almost a dozen times from previous publications:
The irrepressible Tatum also had to admit - with appropriate self-deprecation - that he was an adept liar, but that he couldn't lie to the steadfast and truth-seeking Boot, whom he astutely observed was a very conservative and "cautious man." He confessed that he had been fired (and banished) from many previous news jobs for alleged libel, for cheating with the boss' wife, and for drunkenness:
Finding himself in desperate straits without employment in Albuquerque, the tarnished reporter's only chance to get back as a hot-shot to the bigger markets in the East was to resume his work in the same field, so that he could turn his luck around with one blockbuster story ("just one good beat, a Tatum special"). In the meantime, he had been relegated to becoming a 'prostitute' - to sell his services to the highest (or lowest) bidder until he found a way to return to a larger news organization:
Small-town, kindly teetotaler Boot had only one reservation about Tatum's background - his drinking (specifically not allowed on the job), and he asked: "And as for drinking, do you drink a lot?" Tatum affirmed: "Not a lot. Just frequently." Boot ultimately offered Tatum $60/week, the current rate for a job at the newspaper - where the pompous newman was hoping that after just one big break, he could be rehired by former employers. He was assigned a desk by the door (Boot: "You may be outta here by Saturday!"). Tatum quipped: "The sooner the better." As he walked directly toward the camera, the shot turned black - a transition. A Year Later - Still in the Albuquerque Sun-Bulletin's News Office: The next shot began as Tatum moved away from the camera in the opposite direction. The passage of time was conveyed by Tatum's copy-cat mode of dress - he was wearing a dark black shirt, pleated khaki slacks, and a belt AND suspenders - imitating Mr. Boot's cautious clothing style (but still very calculating). He tore off an incoming teletype message and returned to his NEWS EDITOR desk (he was no longer positioned by the door). The Indian Copy Boy (casually nicknamed "Geronimo" - reflecting Tatum's continuing bigoted attitude and insensitivity after a full year), brought Tatum his take-out lunch - and he derogatorily called it a "mess." His requested order of chopped chicken liver and garlic pickles had been replaced by chicken tacos. Tatum started to contemptuously and savagely rant about how much he missed big-city life. With his feet up on his desk and then as he strolled in the cramped news office with co-workers, he had become utterly frustrated by being imprisoned and stuck there after a year. Feeling like he was in limbo, he described how he missed New York after being mired in the god-forsaken, "sunbaked" rural state of New Mexico (with the motto: "LAND OF ENCHANTMENT"). He had still not found a "big story" to extricate himself from the 'land of entrapment.' And he rattled off a "long-playing" series of things that Albuquerque sorely lacked - making reference to President FDR's "live in infamy" pronouncement regarding Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941:
Tatum's monologue was interrupted by an accusatory Mr. Boot who emerged from his office - and glanced at an open liquor bottle sticking out of Tatum's desk drawer. But he was mistaken - it was a bottle with a miniature ship model inside - a pastime that Tatum engaged in at night during periods of boredom with matches and toothpicks ("Calms my nerves"). Good news arrived - Boot commissioned Tatum to leave town (with cub reporter/photographer Herbie) for a few days to cover a rattlesnake hunt in the remote county of Los Barrios, hours outside of Albuquerque. The sarcastic Tatum couldn't contain his feigned excitement over the 'hick' assignment to get out of the claustrophobic office:
Tatum's Philosophy of a Best-Selling News Story: On the drive to the newsworthy event, the fresh-faced Herbie chauffeured Tatum in an open coupe and opined about how there might be some potential in the exciting and morbid 'rattlesnake hunt' story - with hundreds of the creatures being bashed in the head. He was forced to listen as Tatum described that he would prefer to cover a more impressive and real story that could get major headlines. He imagined a more disastrous scenario of mass hysteria caused by 50 rattlers on the loose in Albuquerque, creating widespread panic - with the 50th snake elusively hidden in his own news-office's desk drawer to prolong the suspense. [Note: This off-hand comment was a foreshadowing of the pet rattlesnake kept in a box by the county Sheriff.] Tatum's outrageous musings were a portent of his desire for drama, sensationalism, disaster and personal gain - during the manipulation of news-stories:
Tatum concluded his wishes by emphasizing the type of 'bad news' he preferred to cover:
Minosa's Trading Post and the Holy Mountain: Along the way, they pulled in for gas at the desolate Minosa's Trading Post - a two-story, roadside adobe brick building near a rock escarpment, in the remote desert: INDIAN CURIOS RUGS GAS OIL SOUVENIRS DRINKS ON ICE Herbie honked the car's horn and entered the curio shop, but it was deserted. In a small adjoining back bedroom (with a prominent crucifix on the wall), he came upon elderly Mama Minosa (Frances Dominguez) with her back to the door. She was kneeling down and praying silently before a Madonna statue sitting on a high ledge, and was unresponsive to him. Herbie returned to Tatum and their parked car, and heard a police car's siren blaring. They observed the local Deputy Sheriff's vehicle enter through a wooden gate - the entrance to a tourist site for viewing 450 year old ancient cliff dwellings - and watched as he sped down a dusty dirt road toward the rocky, cavernous mesa with a sheer rock face behind some old Navajo cliff dwellings: OLD INDIAN CLIFF DWELLINGS 450 YEARS OLD OK TO TAKE PICTURES FILMS ON SALE IN TRADING POST FREE - Leo Minosa - FREE Prop. Tatum made another insensitive Indian joke about why the Sheriff might be investigating: "Maybe they got a warrant for Sitting Bull for that Custer rap." He urged them to check out what was happening: "Come on, Herbie, let's go visiting. It's for free." Tatum's curiosity was also piqued about the old woman in the back-room: "What's she praying for?...Maybe it ties in." Part of the way down the dusty road toward the cliff dwellings, they pulled up next to a young blonde woman, wearing jeans and a plaid shirt, and carrying a folded up blanket and thermos. She briefly described the reason for the emergency - her stubborn husband Leo Minosa (Richard Benedict), the adult son of the trading post owner, was trapped by a cave-in of rocks inside the ancient, haunted Indian cliff dwelling. He was looting it of artifacts in the remote town of Escudero (three hour's drive from Albuquerque) - and she also revealed her attitude toward him - he was a foolish "dumb cluck" who deserved the cave-in:
From her first few derogatory comments about Escudero, it appeared that Lorraine Minosa (Jan Sterling) was a disgruntled, unhappy, jaded and long-suffering wife, made tougher and more crude by her arid surroundings that she intensely disliked. At the mouth of the cave dwelling site, the Deputy Sheriff (Gene Evans) was already questioning Papa Minosa (John Berkes), Leo's elderly father (with a right club foot), who reported that his son had become trapped about six hours earlier. Other bystanders included an Indian family, and two men who thought Minosa was about 250-300 feet down in the cave - they cautioned: "Best we could do was to get in about halfway. You gotta watch yourself. Swing that pick too hard in them old walls, you start a sand slide and block up the whole place. Then goodbye, Leo." Papa Minosa took the thermos of coffee and blanket (with sandwiches wrapped inside, and cigars) from Lorraine, but was prohibited from proceeding with the supplies into the cave by the Deputy: "Nobody goes no place here without I say so." The Deputy considered asking local Navajos standing by if they would go into the cave (assuming that they were familiar with its configuration), but Papa Minosa explained why they solemnly refused and stood stone-faced - it was an ancient burial ground that was cursed by "bad spirits":
Listening nearby to everything that had transpired, Tatum was intrigued by the name given to the caves by the local Navajo man (Basil Chester): "The Mountain of the Seven Vultures. It's got a sound to it." He seized the opportunity by having Herbie retrieve his camera, as he approached the inept, cowardly and boorish Deputy Sheriff and arrogantly took charge. He took the essential supplies from Papa Minosa and grabbed a flashlight from the Deputy and headed into the cave - with Herbie following close behind: "I'll tell you who I am. I'm the guy who's going in that cave. And you're the guy that's been sounding off long enough." Papa Minosa was deeply grateful for their assistance ("God bless you"), and encouraged Tatum to lift up Leo's spirit: "Tell him we'll get him out. Tell him not to worry." But Lorraine was scornful and cynical as she lit a cigarette and sarcastically fumed: "And tell him we'll have a big coming-out party for him with a brass band and everything."
Entering the Cave - Speaking with the Trapped Victim: The two reporters Tatum and Herbie entered the darkness of the subterranean cave and its narrow passageways, and found a rope that pointed in the direction where Minosa was located. Tatum emphasized the importance of 'human interest' in any journalistic story. During his analysis of how to create the greatest circulation, he stressed how he favored a single individual in peril over hundreds or thousands being killed - and Minosa fit his preferred scenario perfectly:
Tatum then recounted the real-life incident from 1925 of a Kentucky cave-in that trapped a man named W. Floyd Collins - after being disgusted and scolding Herbie and his journalism education that hadn't included the famous Collins story:
As Tatum twisted along in the labyrinthine cave, he was already formulating in his mind his plan to get the scoop on this disaster - his own personal ticket for getting out of the entrapping Albuquerque. When they approached closer to the trapped man, the deepening, treacherous cave became more threatening to both of them with heaps of dislodged boulders, rubble, dirt, and timber supports. Trickles of suffocating sand flowed down upon them, so Tatum ordered Herbie to stay back before he proceeded along by himself - he offhandedly mentioned and hinted that he wanted the story for himself, even though it was risky: ("I like the odds"). Once he reached the trapped victim, he was kept separate from him and able to communicate only through a small aperture in the rocks - appearing like a 'magic-mirror' figure. It was obvious that Leo was pinned at the waist under some very large, and heavy rocks, and was worried about the very unstable confines of the burial cave: "You want those rocks to come down on my head?...They're all pretty shaky. It's an old place been comin' apart for a long time." Tatum suggested that they would have to be very careful in extricating him: "Looks like we'll have to take them out one by one." Leo confirmed his increasing worry about how fragile the cave was, how a landslide might easily be triggered, and why it might take a long time to rescue him: "Don't try it by yourself. It's gonna take a lot of figurin'. The way they are now, if one goes, they'll all go, roof and everything." Tatum realized that this might be end up being the perfect story to exploit. He passed through the supplies (hot coffee, blanket, and cigar) to Leo, and then tried to calm the pinned-down and helpless man who was anxious to be extricated. However, Tatum's objective was to prolong the perilous situation as long as possible, while befriending Leo and keeping him assured of his trusting nature:
Leo explained why he had entered the cave in the first place - to steal Indian artifacts to sell at the trading post. He held up one of the valuable relics that he had discovered - an old Indian funerary urn - before the cave-in occurred. He suggested that he now believed that the Navajo curse (about supernatural "bad spirits") was real:
Tatum maneuvered Herbie's camera to get two photos of the trapped victim, holding up the urn - so that he could print the story in the Albuquerque Sun-Bulletin paper - a feature article that he had already begun to create in his mind. After the first shot, Tatum popped out the used flash-bulb and the discarded object flew in Leo's direction and struck him! Thrilled by the thought of publicity for himself, Leo (forgetting his dire circumstances) began to think of himself as a celebrity, and suggested how he could be positively portrayed in the story:
For a moment, Leo remembered his fear during the war, but then found soothing comfort and inspiration by singing a song that he often sang with his comrade buddies - "The Hut Sut Song" - a novelty hit song in 1941 with non-sensical lyrics. A few moments later, Tatum excused himself to organize rescue efforts on the outside: ("But there's a lot to do outside getting things organized"), while promising to get Leo out as soon as possible ("Well, you wanna get out, don't ya?"). As Tatum moved back toward the entrance to the cave, a small cave-in threatened him as well, but he was able to reach Herbie and handed him the camera: "I got me some pictures, fan. Guard them with your life." Even before getting back to the cave's entrance, Tatum described for Herbie how he had a "BIG" story. He shared how he had already devised the story's angle in his head to take advantage of its sensational aspects (it was "Floyd Collins plus") - he would also play up the mountain as a haunted place:
When Herbie asked how soon they could rescue Leo, Tatum responded that he needed a week to soak the story for all it was worth. Herbie was so upset that the victim would have to suffer for a week, that devious Tatum had to soften his approach by claiming he wasn't embellishing the truth:
Outside the cave, Tatum reassured Papa Minosa that Leo would be rescued, but maybe not immediately: "You can be sure of one thing, we'll get him out....There's nothing we can do here tonight....As soon as we get an engineering crew on the job. And I'm gonna get them, Mr. Minosa, the best. And I'll get that doctor. And the sheriff, too." Tatum was not too upset that there would be delays in assembling local rescue efforts to extricate Leo. While a tense drama unfolded underground, he reveled in the thought of orchestrating everyone above-ground at the site for the story of a lifetime: "They'll all be here. The sheriff, the doctor, the engineer...." It would be the perfect and exclusive 'human interest' story involving grieving parents and a wife that he had always wanted to generate a media frenzy - to catapult him back into importance. One Possible Roadblock: The Introduction of Lorraine: Tatum returned to the trading post (a combination curio shop and restaurant), and next to the wall phone inside, he told Lorraine that he would be contacting all the key people to be brought together: "We'll get some action here. You'll see. By tomorrow, this place will be jumping if I have to call Santa Fe and get the Governor out of bed." When he asked for overnight lodging, Lorraine fancifully fabricated an answer about their on-site luxurious hotel: "Sixty beautiful rooms. The Escudero Ritz. What'll it be, ocean view or mountain view?" He closed the bedroom door (where Mrs. Minosa was quietly praying) to keep his business dealings private. The first call of the scheming, serpentine-like protagonist was to his boss Mr. Boot in the Albuquerque office - it was his main priority to break his exclusive story - with pictures (the next "front-page feature"), to be brought back by Herbie:
While Tatum was excitedly speaking on the phone about "the Curse," Herbie was at the gas pump being offered gas at no charge by the naive and innocently-trusting Papa Minosa. In between them was hard-hearted, bleach-blonde Lorraine watching Tatum as she smiled and calmly munched on an apple - a Biblical reference to Eve (a corrupted temptress). She was already aware of Tatum's underhanded nature - knowing that she was the crucial linchpin that could either hold together or unravel Tatum's manipulative plan. The self-interested and jaded femme fatale Lorraine undoubtedly saw Leo’s entrapment as a convenient way to exit from her unhappy marriage. |
Ace in the Hole (1951) is director/co-writer
Billy Wilder's uncompromising, dark and harsh noirish commentary
about human nature, and the unscrupulous and self-serving
actions of compromised tabloid-media journalists. Co-written
with screenwriters Lesser Samuels and Walter Newman, the caustic
film presented a scathing attack on the sensationalizing and ruthless
tabloid mass media, serving as the 50's version of the 70's