We also just lost Orson Bean (2/7/20) and Robert Conrad (2/8/20). Classic tv and movies will never be the same again.

In a pleasant coincidence, there is an article in The Guardian today by Vanessa Thorpe arguing that the finest role by Kirk Douglas was as the “cynical newspaper hack” in this movie. She writes: “Ace in the Hole, directed by the masterful Billy Wilder, creator of Sunset Boulevard and Double Indemnity, swiftly becomes a blistering portrayal of the dynamics of what we now call ‘a media circus’. Inspired by the real-life press feeding frenzy that sprang up in 1925 when a man called Floyd Collins was trapped in a Kentucky cave, the plot has Tatum (Chuck Tatum, “the restless and unprincipled reporter played by Kirk Douglas in the 1951 Hollywood classic”) taking control of the scene of a mining disaster and working it to his own ends. Quickly establishing himself inside the filling station run by a trapped man’s wife, the newshound twists the facts to suit his tale and shows no visible pangs of guilt. ‘I’ve met a lotta hard-boiled eggs in my life, but you, you’re 20 minutes,’ the wife tells Tatum in grudging awe.”

An interesting and offbeat movie, one of the best starring Kirk Douglas. RIP