Ace in the Hole

In 1925, Floyd Collins "was trapped inside Sand Cave, Kentucky, following a landslide.  (A local reporter's) enterprising coverage turned the tragic episode into a national event."

In 1951, based on the above real life story, six-time Academy Award winning director and screenwriter Billy Wilder (plus two others) wrote the script for the film Ace in the Hole, which stars Kirk Douglas as Chuck Tatum, a fiercely ambitious reporter for the Albuquerque Sun-Bulletin.  Tatum is waiting for a big story that would send him back to a big city newspaper.

One day, Tatum learns that Leo Minosa, a collector of artifacts, is trapped as a result of the collapse of a nearby cliff dwelling.  

"Sensing a golden opportunity, Tatum manipulates the rescue effort, forming an alliance with an unscrupulous sheriff, by depicting him favorably in the newspaper to ensure his re-election." 

"The pair coerce the construction contractor charged with the rescue into drilling from above, rather than the quicker method of shoring up the existing passages, so that Tatum can prolong his own stay on the front pages of newspapers nationwide. Tatum also directs (the sheriff) to prevent any other reporters from encroaching on the story, keeping it as his exclusive."

Minosa's wife, who operates a restaurant and trading post near where her husband is imprisoned, benefits financially as Tatum's reporting draws thousands of tourists to view the effort to free Minosa from his entrapment.  As a result of the delay in the rescue effort, Minosa dies of pneumonia before he can be extricated.

In a dramatic climax, Minosa's wife stabs Tatum with a scissors in self-defense.  He survives until he reaches his newspaper's office where he falls dead on the floor.       

According to one critic, "The story is a biting examination of the seedy relationship between the press, the news it reports and the manner in which it reports it. The film also shows how a gullible public can be manipulated by the press."