ACE IN THE HOLE
Special Features: Intro by film historian Alan K. Rode
[a.k.a. THE BIG CARNIVAL]
Ruthless reporter Charles “Chuck” Tatum (Kirk Douglas) — and everybody else — exploits a doomed man trapped in a cave in Billy Wilder’s most venomous attack on American greed. (The man’s wife, played by Jan Sterling, on why she is not praying for her trapped husband: “Kneeling bags my nylons.”) Noteworthy elements include suspenders-wearing Porter Hall as the only decent man in the film and the most amazing focus-pull in screen history at the climax. ACE IN THE HOLE is based in part on the 1925 Floyd Collins case — the real reporter won a Pulitzer Prize. DIR/SCR/PROD Billy Wilder; SCR Walter Newman, Lesser Samuels. U.S., 1951, b&w, 111 min. NOT RATED
Run Time: 111 Minutes
Opening Date: Friday, October 17, 2025
Genre: Film noir
Introduction