Ace in the Hole

Kirk Douglas as an unscrupulous journalist

In Ace in the Hole, Kirk Douglas plays the ambitious journalist Chuck Tatum. After a series of failures, he lands a job at a small newspaper in Albuquerque. There, he stumbles upon a story that could breathe new life into his career: a man is trapped in a collapsed tunnel system inside a mountain. Tatum seizes his chance and manipulates the rescue operation so that he can milk the news for as long as possible.

A film that was ahead of its time

Director Billy Wilder made Ace in the Hole in 1951 as a sharp attack on media abuse and sensationalism. The film shows how public interest turns into a spectacle, at the cost of a human life. Filmmakers like Spike Lee still cite Ace in the Hole as an influential classic. In his film Malcolm X, Lee quotes Wilder's final scene.

On view at Lab111 in Amsterdam

You can watch Ace in the Hole at Lab111, an atmospheric movie theater in Amsterdam. Are you interested? Use the link for tickets.