Ace in the Hole: The Criterion Collection (DVD)

Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more.

---

"I´ve done a lot of lying in my time. I´ve lied to men who wear belts. I´ve lied to men who wear suspenders. But I´d never be so stupid as to lie to a man who wears both belt AND suspenders." -Chuck Tatum, ace reporter

You don´t tug on Superman´s cape. You don´t spit into the wind. You don´t pull the mask of the old Lone Ranger. And you don´t hire Kirk Douglas for a role that requires subtlety. If you want scenery chewed and nails spit, Kirk is your man; he perfected "shock and awe" before anybody ever told tale of the legendary weapons of mass destruction. Fans may remember him best as Spartacus or perhaps Vincent van Gogh, but Kirk´s finest hour by far was his turn as caustic newspaper reporter Chuck Tatum, the anti-Clark Kent.

Tatum knows newspapers backward and forward, up and down, inside and out. He can print ´em, wrap ´em and ship ´em. If there´s no news, he´ll go out and bite a dog. Yet here he finds himself in Albuquerque, a $250 a week man ready to work for the bargain price of $50. He makes this magnanimous offer to Mr. Boot (Porter Hall), editor of the humble Albuquerque Sun-Bulletin. Boot isn´t exactly impressed, but gives Tatum a chance to redeem himself after drinking and/or philandering his way out of every major city paper in America. In case you can´t tell that Tatum is a fish out of water, the message is delivered with a zinger when Tatum delivers his fire and brimstone speech about making news happen while sitting beneath a homemade macramé sign in Boot´s office that reads "Tell the Truth."

Tatum languishes in hicktown for six months, bored out of his skull but hardly humbled by his exile. Then the newspaper gods deliver him a miracle. On his way to cover a rattlesnake hunt, Tatum learns that a man named Leo Minosa (Richard Benedict) is trapped in a mineshaft in Old Indian Cliffs. As Johnny Law frets about how to get to Leo, a snarling Tatum grabs a flashlight and plunges into the darkness to locate the trapped man and assure himself exclusive rights to the biggest story to hit Albuquerque since the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe came to town. What follows is perhaps the most cynical, jaundiced film ever made about the American media and American culture.

The engineers fear it will take nearly a day to shore up the walls enough to rescue Leo. One lousy day? You can´t construct a solid narrative arc in one lousy day. Tatum, with the town sheriff in his hop pocket, convinces them to drill from above even though it will take a week to get to the man. Leo´s a tough old soldier; he can last. Tatum covers every angle of the tear-jerking tale, making sure that the public gets to know the grieving widow… er, I mean wife, Lorraine (Jan Sterling). Never mind the fact that Lorraine thinks so little of her poor endangered spouse that she tries to split town right away, she´s gonna play the grieving wid… wife and she´s gonna like it. Especially as the tourists flock to town and pay for hamburgers and souvenirs before they go to ride the hastily installed Ferris wheel.

Douglas leads with his chest thrust out and his bronze-plated chin dimple preceding him by a full stride, but he doesn´t just alpha mail in his performance. Tatum´s dial goes way past 11, but he knows how to turn on the charm when he needs to. In the film´s most potent scenes, Tatum chats with Leo who is pinned under a mountain of rubble. He assures him that everything is going to be OK, that his wife loves him, and that everybody´s rooting for him. Even Leo doesn´t believe it, but he has nobody else to rely on him; ace reporter Chuck Tatum is his only friend in the world, his pal Friday. Douglas´ firebrand performance is textured enough to indicate that Tatum knows full well that he´s betraying Leo´s trust, and that he even feels profoundly guilty about it. Yet he does it anyway, making Tatum´s ersatz redemption in the final act ring even more hollow.