Ace in the Hole

One of the most scathing indicments of American culture ever produced by a Hollywood filmmaker, Billy Wilder’s Ace in the Hole is a legendary fix for both its cutting social critique and its status as a hard-to-find cult classic. Kirk Douglas gives the fiercest performance of his career as Chuck Tatum, as amoral newspaper reporter caught in dead-end Albuquerque who happens upon the story of a lifetime – and will do anything to ensure that he gets the scoop. Wilder’s follow-up to Sunset Boulevard is an ever darer vision, a non-holds-barred expose that anticipated the rise of the American media circus.