Huh?

Jack Shafer makes some questionable claims in his overview of Billy Wilder's Ace In The Hole (1951), just released on DVD.

First he says it's "rarely screened." Okay, it's not seen as much as Wilder's Sunset Boulevard or Some Like It Hot, but it wasn't the hit those films were. Personally, I've seen three screenings of Act In The Hole in the past 15 years, and it also shows on up TV occasionally.

"Ace in the Hole disturbs journalists because they recognize too much of themselves and their colleagues in the film's loathsome protagonist, Charles Tatum (Kirk Douglas)." Actually, I think most journalists love the film. First, it's very entertaining. Second, I don't think they see too much of themselves in Tatum's more disgusting side. Third, the stuff he does is awful, but he gets things done, and in movie terms, he's the one you're rooting for. He's actually a descendant of the lovable rogues in The Front Page. (If there's anyone you can't stand, it's John Q. Public, going wild over the slow motion death of a man trapped in a cave--I'm guessing giving the finger to the American public is what made this Wilder film a flop. Shafer seems to agree.)

Finally, Shafer claims "there are no laughs in Ace in the Hole." Not true. There's the patented Wilder snappy dialogue, and it gets quite a few laughs--the humor is there, even if most of it is dark.