Cadenas de roca

Of the many movies I viewed in the early 50's, so many ,like now, were here today, forgotten tomorrow. However some movies that became memorable and that were able to make a dramatic impact on this young guy include, Duel in the Sun and Gone with the Wind. Strangely enough, Ace in the Hole is the most memorable of all movies viewed. It is one that invades the mind and leaves one sad.

Few films I remember as vividly as this dark movie, the images linger to haunt me still. 'Why?' one might ask 'would a sombre movie like this made over 50 years ago remain so memorable, when so many others have vanished. Was it the surreal inhumanity of the plot, the repugnant newsman devoid of ethics, the exploitation of the trapped victim, the purposeful prolonging of the victim's entrapment to create a media frenzy, the ultimate commercial creation of an 'event' style attraction complete with a circus like atmosphere surrounding the cave while the victim remained entrapped and close to death.'

Supposedly based on a real incident, it's a tough movie to watch and more so if one is prepared to accept the premise that such inhumanity displayed in the movie has an element of truth.

I echo the desires of others to have the availability of this movie on VHS or DVD. In the interim my memory will continue to keep the images intact. See it if you can.

This is a movie I have loved since the first time I saw it as a child. Kirk Douglas plays the lead role in "The Big Carnival", or "Ace in the Hole" as it was originally titled. As down and out former ace newspaper reporter Chuck Tatum, he finds himself broke in the southwest and manages to talk himself into a reporting job with a small town newspaper. He and a cub photographer are sent to cover a snake hunt and on the way they come across a more interesting story. A man hunting Navaho artifacts got caught in a cave in.

Tatum, after visiting the man, Leo Minoso in the cave, has visions of Floyd Collins and a Pulitzer prize dancing in his head. Through blackmail and manipulation of the story, Tatum sells his soul and his journalistic ethics in his quest for a chance at the big time again.

This movie was ahead of it's time in estimating how low the media would go to sell a story. Tatum leads the carnival of onlookers, vendors and other reporters wanting a piece of the story until the inevitable tragic ending occurs. He realizes too late how he has turned a simple event into a tragedy and become part of the story instead of a reporter. Kirk Douglas turns in a powerful performance.

One of Billy Wilder's great movies, with a superb acting job by Kirk Douglas as the cynical, glory-seeking and even desperate reporter whose only goal is get back in the limelight by regaining his former big-city news desk job.

The idea of such a newspaper reporter manipulating events to stretch out a story at the expense of and disregard for the victim still seems nearly inhuman, but Douglas' performance makes it instantly believable. The story scenario in which locals, then passers-by and finally distant tourists gravitate to and then make a festival or circus out of the event (the film was also released under the title "The Big Carnival") is supported by the real events on which the story was most likely based: the West VA mine disaster in 1925 that trapped miner Floyd Collins and was reported for 17 days, much as in the film, by local newspaperman Skeets Miller, who crawled into the mineshaft for face-to-face interviews with the trapped and doomed Collins.

This movie fits nicely into the Film Noir genre, although it takes place largely under the hot, harsh glare of the Arizona sun, highlighting the sweat and grime visible on the characters' skin and creating a visual metaphor for the sorry state of their souls. I wonder if Henri-Georges Clouzot saw this film before he began filming "The Wages of Fear," because the visually pervasive atmosphere of sweat and filth and opportunism are equally present in both.

Billy Wilder's first commercial failure, but one of his best films, almost up there with "Sunset Blvd." Ambitious reporter Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas) finds out a man is trapped in a collapsed mine. By spewing out bogus engineering, he manages the rescue of the poor man to become more complicated, and time consuming then needed. Meanwhile, it becomes an amazing news item, something that makes Tatum the best known reporter in the country. However, everybody's luck runs out at the end. Perhaps the cause of failure of this film is that there are no sympathetic characters here. Douglas plays a total creep, the trapped man's wife is a floozy "I'm not going to pray for him! Praying ruins my nylons!" in the film. Even the trapped man is somebody who was poking around Indian graves. The screenplay, and the lead performances are top class. The extensive location photography, and somewhat documentary look of the film makes the film feel more modern than most 1951 films. Billy Wilder calls this film "the runt of his litter" Don't be so harsh, Billy, it's an excellent picture!

There are some films that when you see them you ask why they aren't available to rent or own. This is one of them. I had the fortune of seeing this hidden gem on the big screen and was pleasantly surprised.

With Kirk Douglas playing a Reporter whose been around the block, always looking for a shortcut, comes across an opportunity to exploit a man caught in a mine shaft. I have read where critics had considered the circus atmosphere of the the film unrealistic. It seems Mr. Wilder got the last laugh. If you are interesting in great dialogue and good story telling, I suggest you find this