Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas) used to be a big deal in the reporting business but a string of consequences sees him landing in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Chuck is desperate for a story to get him back on the national news level, and thinks he finds one in Leo Minosa (Richard Benedict), a two-bit gas station owner who gets trapped in a cave-in while looting priceless artifacts from the local indigenous cave dwellings. Chuck spins a tale of angry spirits, cursed objects, and other racist rhetoric to inflame public sympathy for Leo. It works and suddenly Chuck is being courted by every national outlet. He decides to keep this gravy train running, partnering with the corrupt sheriff (Ray Teal) and the chief engineer (Frank Jacquett) to slow down the rescue operation and deny the other reporters access to the site.
Hey, remember when this kind of sensationalism was cause for shame? Probably not. Journalists manufacturing outrage, playing both-sides, and manipulating emotions for clicks is so endemic now, it feels like that's how it always was. But it wasn't. In the 50s, Chuck Tatum is an odious character, a smarmy weasel only out for himself. In the 2020s, he's every talking head on a 24-hr cable channel. More than anything else, that makes the movie feel dated. That he's considered a villain in this narrative. And that he eventually expresses remorse. That's also gone the way of the dodo.
Douglas is fantastically watchable, even when he's being vile. I really wish they had found a different lead actress than Jan Sterling, however. She's so flat in her line delivery and so monotonous in her facial expressions. It's such a waste of what could have been a great, seething scenery chew role.
Ace in the Hole is a stone-cold classic and worth revisiting. Unfortunately, it's only available under some really niche streamers like Filmbox, which you can get as a free trial, even though it should be on the Criterion Channel.
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