Ace in the Hole: Ambition for Yellow Journalism

In the news business, money is made not from heartwarming tales of love and positivity but rather on stories that contain the most carnage. If it bleeds it leads is a motto that just cannot be misread. A large portion of the onus falls on the news organizations; the people who choose what to cover and air. Some of the blame, however, lies with the viewing public who can’t seem to get enough sensationalism. Ace in the Hole is a biting satire on not only the news media that exploits stories for ratings, but also of the people who keep spending money to read all about it. 

Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas) is an ambitious reporter who has burned nearly every bridge in the newspaper business due to his drinking and other sundry problems. Now he finds himself working for a tiny newspaper in a little town in New Mexico. Tatum puts in a year’s worth of sober reporting for the local newspaper before his chance to put his name back on the front page happens. The owner of a local trading post/restaurant, Leo Minosa (Richard Benedict), finds himself trapped in a cave collapse. Tatum coerces the local sheriff to try to extract Leo from above the cave collapse rather than through the more direct way Leo entered into the cave. Tatum knows that this technique will make the dig last long enough for him to drum up some publicity and get his stories circulating. Lorraine (Jan Sterling), Leo’s wife, is ready to leave her husband and the town for good, but the attention Leo receives from being trapped in the cave brings more business to the restaurant than she knows what to do with so she goes along with Tatum’s scheme. The editor of Tatum’s newspaper tries to stop him from exploiting the situation so Tatum quits the local newspaper, happy instead to sell his story to one of the big New York papers. As Leo stays stuck in the cave, the site literally becomes a carnival of onlookers and well wishers who come to see the outcome. Tatum is the connection from the outside world to the inside of the cave. After several days of trying to drill into the cave, the workers are unable to get close enough to Leo to safely extract him. Now realizing the peril he has put Leo in, Tatum tries to convince the contractor to make a last minute change and go in the way they should have in the beginning, but it turns out to be too late. Leo dies in the cave. Lorraine turns on Tatum stabbing him with scissors. Tatum struggles to make it back to the newspaper to tell the biggest story of all, how he caused Leo’s death, but he collapses dead on the floor before he can.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=c8hDUnmrkcw%26nbsp%3B

Yellow journalism, the technique whereby eye-catching headlines take precedent over facts and data, began when two newspaper moguls jockeyed against each other, trying to find the best way to boost sales. Chuck Tatum is the kind of reporter that learned everything he knows from these two. He takes over the situation immediately upon arrival making sure he is the only one that has access into the cave and to Leo. He sets up a tent to keep other media outlets abreast of the situation so that he controls what of the story gets out. Tatum knows the key words to peak the reader’s interests. When he learns of the cave’s connection to a possible Indian burial ground, he gets his headline speculating that the whole situation might be about an ancient Indian curse. 

A literal carnival of visitors set up camp all around the cliff. They’ve all come to see the workers race against time to try and save the man trapped inside. Of course, if the man dies inside, well, then that’s a story that leaves a mark. It’s rubbernecking at the scene of a car wreck. As the throngs of people descend upon the town, the men that run the newspapers take notice. They see the latest way money can be made off the buying public. It’s hard to sell something if people aren’t interested in buying it. 

Once titled The Big Carnival, Ace in the Hole struck at the heart of the devious media money making machine. To no one’s surprise, reviews of the film were resoundingly negative across the board. Seems that the industry that is put under a microscope for the way they conduct business was not a big fan of being seen in such a negative light on the big screen. Despite the fact that the antics of Kirk Douglas' character in the movie seemed outlandish, the script was actually based on two real life reporters and their brush with manipulating a human interest piece, one of which went on to win a Pulitzer Prize for his work. Ace in the Hole is just one of the many great films in the library of director Billy Wilder.    

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