Even though it became a critical and financial flop upon its release, Billy Wilder’s “Ace in the Hole” has seen its reputation greatly restored in the later years, and is now considered one of American film noir classics. Starring Kirk Douglas as an ambitious and ruthless reporter called Chuck Tatum. After falling out of favor with his numerous employers for drinking heavily, among other things, Tatum now works in a small time paper. He’s been sober for a year, but he is still desperate to get back into the newspapers major league. When he hears the story of a local man trapped in a cave, he senses a golden opportunity. He manages to manipulate the rescue effort, intentionally prolonging it so he could stay in the headlines for as long as he can, thus seriously threatening the life of the trapped man. When his editor tries to talk some sense into him, he quits the paper after he has already sold the exclusive rights to the story to a large New York paper for a small fortune and his old job back. In the meantime he becomes romantically entangled with the trapped man’s wife and goes back to drinking. Ultimately, all his plans fall to pieces when the trapped man dies after Tatum belatedly realizes the gravity of the danger. His disgruntled lover also stabs him with scissors and he somehow manages to drag himself to the offices of his recent employer with the intent of telling the whole story of how he caused the death of the man trapped in the cave.
Jennifer Lawrence might join Chris Martin on tour
