Billy Wilder - Ace in the Hole (1951), 7/10

As Charles "Chuck" Tatum puts it: "bad news sells best." The arc of Chuck and Leo's intertwined fates in the film is directly linked to the story itself, a meta-narrative illustrating the evils of journalism while telling a fittingly personal story via Chuck's perspective, or what Chuck appropriately identifies for us: "One man - that's human interest." The human interest story, whether evaluating Chuck or Leo, chooses to focus on the pitfalls of the human experience while brushing against hope but its characters never relinquish control, similar to Wilder's approach to filmmaking. Chuck chooses money and success over humanism and compassion at every turn, causing him to turn much too late to save anyone including himself. The real world casualties inherent in dishonest journalism are part of the story's moral realism and satisfaction, as is the finality of its closing, just as real villains and antiheroes behind human tragedies are on full display, pulling no punches. This commitment to honesty (and its perhaps on the nose presentation in the form of Nagel's "Tell the Truth" signage), again in a meta-fictional sense, contributes to what was Billy Wilder's commercial failure with the film, yet is simultaneously what gives it its lasting power with film enthusiasts.

The all too real power struggles exhibited through Chuck and Lorraine, Kretzer (the sheriff), the newsmen, Smollett, and most clearly Nagel, portray mindful narrative representations rather than retreating into generalities. The ethos behind Chuck's character is a proto-Plainview of sorts, although there are many in fifties films, and this portrayal is equally jarring. Kirk Douglas is as powerful as ever and commands the screen in a way that dwarfs practically any other character in most moments. Relationships are purely formed around his performance and relinquish their identity to Chuck's dialogue many times over. The parading around the spectacle that is Leo's suffering is effective as symbolism but not exactly the most subtle presentation of exploitation to meet the screen. The film leans into its pageantry, however, and while it can feel ridiculous, it simultaneously feels genuine in its personality, offering pure entertainment in ways atypical of commercial failures of this magnitude. Wilder would evolve beyond the limits of Ace in the Hole but it is one of his greatest feats, particularly of his early career, marking a change and death of an amateur. As Chuck again outlines for us explicitly: "The circus is over."