I have been watching a lot of movies lately. It’s not something new some might say. But circumstances are such that my only refuge has been good movies that help me take my mind of things. For as always whenever I have let my mind wander on things that weigh heavily on my mind I find better ways of feeling sorrow and sympathy at a self that basically does not need that. The movie I chose to write up from all these movies I have been watching is- Ace in the hole
Kirk Douglas is one of my favorite style icons from the fifties. Having watched Spartacus all those years ago (probably when I was in second standard) I had become an instant fan. And hence when I found ace in the hole playing on turner classic movies.. having nothing else pressing to do .. I decided to park my hyde on me sofa and started to be enthralled by an age gone. The movie was written and directed by Billy Wilder known more so for a number of academy award winning movies. This though wasn’t one. The movie when it was released had such a poor response that the movie studio re-released the movie with a new name- The big Carnival in order to create more mass appeal. It was one of those movies that isn’t talked of as a classic that has even played a number of times on television. It was apparently gathering dust till TCM picked it to screen.
The story and screenplay seems way ahead of its time and probably a reason as to not appeal to the public. The story goes like this- there is reporter who comes and offers his services to a small town newspaper because he has been kicked out of large newspapers and media bigwigs for one reason or the other. The owner of the newspaper who is an idealist in a sense hires him to give him a chance under a few regulations that he believe in the ideals on which his newspaper was founded. Douglas agrees. He is soon sent to a neighboring town to report on a certain local event of standing. He has a rookie kid that is his acting photographer. They stop on the way at a gas station which happens to be in the summit of an old Indian ( native American) mountain tomb. On not getting service they look around and find the few people who are there buzzing at a cave-in in the tomb. The owner of the gas station they find out to be trapped in a cave-in. Douglas volunteers to find his way through the cave in to check on the trapped individual and give him a blanket and hope that he is going to be eventually rescued. He smells a story in it that would help resurrect his career. Though his manipulation of reporting by the next day the whole nation knows of the fate that he individual trapped in the cave-in under a headlines that reads- exclusive- the curse of the Indian tomb strikes!
What follows is a story of media manipulation and attention .that you could compare to the –“the big carnival”. The ending I thought was predictable and not as bold as the movie itself. But then to think that 55 years ago somebody could already see what the media was degrading into! The characterization and “how manipulative a reporter can get” is shown in brilliant light. A must watch – wouldn’t hesitate to give it a five star rating for ingenuity!
2 comments:
I agree. It deserves a five star rating just for its cynical take on the media and news. But what I like most about is is that it is unapologetically wicked. None of the cloying sweetness designed to dawn in flies by the dozen.
And thats why I did not like the ending.. cause they tried to be apolegetic about Kirks character and tht unfortunately does not happen in real life..
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