Ace in the Hole

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Ace in the Hole

1951

1h 52m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

91%

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43 Reviews

92%

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5,000+ Ratings

With flaws that outweigh his talent, reporter Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas) has bounced across the country from job to job. Winding up in New Mexico, Tatum gets work from the local newspaper, but finds that there's not much in the way of pressing news. However, when Tatum catches wind of a treasure hunter (Richard Benedict) trapped in a mineshaft, he turns the story into a media sensation. Soon Tatum is using unscrupulous tactics to draw out the situation, an approach that comes back to haunt him.

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Critics Consensus

Spearheaded by an excellent Kirk Douglas, Ace in the Hole is an incisive and sardonic satire that, much like its opportunistic hero, never lets moral compunction get in the way of a good story.

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Adam Nayman

The Ringer

Ace in the Hole is as vicious and irreverent as classic Hollywood ever got, bowing to nobody in its righteous cynicism.

Apr 15, 2019

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Roger Ebert

RogerEbert.com

In a lesser movie, Tatum would share our sympathy for the pathetic man. Here, he's on a parabola in that direction but wants it to intersect with the moment of his own greatest fame.

Rated: 4/4

Feb 22, 2019

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Ruthe Stein

San Francisco Chronicle

Ace in the Hole is a revelation, as timely now as when it was made.

Aug 29, 2014

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Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

One of the most powerfully cynical movies ever made, and one that feels ever more relevant today.

Rated: 4/4

Aug 11, 2025

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Vernon Young

Arizona Quarterly

In Ace in the Hole aesthetics would have been served by intelligence.

Jan 22, 2024

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Josh Larsen

LarsenOnFilm

A fairly clear-cut moral parable...

Rated: 3.5/4

Jan 14, 2024

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Mike W

The movie is excellent, though not fun or uplifting. One very cool thing is that I am 95% sure I was at the souvenir shop where the movie was done back as a kid traveling in NM with family around 1956-57, outside Albuquerque.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/20/25

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Mark B

Kirk Douglas puts in an electrifying performance as a former down on his luck, hard-nosed, top hack, now resorting to working for a hick-town newspaper in the middle of nowhere in America to make ends meet. But Douglas suddenly hits gold in his bid to get back to the big time in New York when he stops off to get gas on the way to his original assignment and stumbles across an incident involving a man trapped down a sacred Indian tomb. With savage determination to exploit the story solely for his own gain, Douglas milks the story dry to his old newspaper boss paying him top dollar, knowing the trapped man will probably die as a result. Douglas fills the screen in this mesmerizing tale of naked, human ambition, trampling on anyone and everything that gets in his way.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/04/24

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Allen R

Disturbing look at what humanity will turn to if they get a little attention. Kirk Douglas is fantastic as a reporter doing anything to make it the top even if it means making up the story.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

05/06/24

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Steve D

I found it melodramatic and unconvincing,

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

05/10/25

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Sean S

Billy Wilder, one of America's top five directors teaming up with Kirk Douglas at his peak. A cynical but truthful look at the tabloid news media industry. One of the very few 5/5 films.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/16/23

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bao s

Kirk as always makes it a movie worth watching.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

07/12/23

Full Review

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Billy Wilder

Director

Kirk Douglas

Charles "Chuck" Tatum

Jan Sterling

Lorraine Minosa

Porter Hall

Jacob Q. Boot

Robert Arthur

Herbie Cook

Frank Cady

Mr. Federber

Ace in the Hole: Official Clip - Below-the-Belt Journalism

2:09

Ace in the Hole: Official Clip - We've Got an Ace in the Hole

1:58

Ace in the Hole: Official Clip - Small Town Blues

2:13

Ace in the Hole: Official Clip - Rattlesnake Hunt

1:50

Ace in the Hole: Official Clip - Finding Leo

2:13

Ace in the Hole: Official Clip - I Know Newspapers Backward, Forward and Sideways

2:13

Ace in the Hole: Official Clip - A Big Human Interest Ending

2:12

Ace in the Hole: Official Clip - You Like Those Rocks Just as Much as I Do

2:10

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Synopsis

With flaws that outweigh his talent, reporter Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas) has bounced across the country from job to job. Winding up in New Mexico, Tatum gets work from the local newspaper, but finds that there's not much in the way of pressing news. However, when Tatum catches wind of a treasure hunter (Richard Benedict) trapped in a mineshaft, he turns the story into a media sensation. Soon Tatum is using unscrupulous tactics to draw out the situation, an approach that comes back to haunt him.

Director: Billy Wilder
Producer: Billy Wilder
Screenwriter: Walter Newman, Lesser Samuels, Billy Wilder
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Paramount Pictures
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 29, 1951, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 1, 2013
Runtime: 1h 52m

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