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Ace in the Hole  /  Detective Story

Ace in the Hole
July 9, 2016 - 7:30 pm

Ace in the Hole  (1951)


Director Billy Wilder cynically observes the ugliness and readiness with which humans gawk at tragedy.  When a man is trapped in a cave in a small desert town, ambitious reporter Kirk Douglas cannily whips the incident into a cause célèbre, prolonging the crisis for his own gain.  Like a modern-day pied piper, he charmingly leads tourists and media consumers in a merry and hideous dance.

35mm, b/w, 111 min.  DIR: Billy Wilder.  SCR: Billy Wilder, Lesser Samuels, Walter Newman.  CAST: Kirk Douglas, Jan Sterling, Bob Arthur, Porter Hall.

Detective Story  (1951)


In a busy, urban police precinct, zealous detective Kirk Douglas relentlessly, even violently persecutes a doctor suspected in the deaths of several women who sought abortions.  Warned against his excesses, he persists in his hate-filled pursuit of perceived evil, calling into question the feasibility and even the survivability of his method.  Director William Wyler's pitched drama eloquently casts Douglas as a tragic hero, done in by hubris. 

DCP, b/w, 104 min.  DIR: William Wyler.  SCR: Philip Yordan, Robert Wyler.  CAST: Kirk Douglas, Eleanor Parker, William Bendix, Cathy O’Donnell.