Development

The film's plot has similarities with two real-life events that ended in tragedy. The first involved W. Floyd Collins, who in 1925 was trapped inside Sand Cave, Kentucky, following a landslide. A Louisville newspaper, The Courier-Journal, jumped on the story by dispatching reporter William Burke Miller to the scene. Miller's enterprising coverage turned the tragic episode into a national event and earned the writer a Pulitzer Prize. Collins's name is cited in the film as an example of a cave-in victim who becomes a media sensation. The second event took place in April 1949. Three-year-old Kathy Fiscus of San Marino, California, fell into an abandoned well and, during a rescue operation that lasted several days, thousands of people arrived to watch the action unfold. In both cases, the victims died before they were rescued.^[8]

After the film's release, screenwriter Victor Desny sued Wilder for plagiarism because he had contacted Wilder's secretary Rosella Stewart to propose a film based on the story of Floyd Collins in November 1949. Wilder's attorneys responded that, not only did an oral plot summary not constitute a formal story submission, but the Collins case was historical in nature and as such was not protected by copyright laws. In December 1953, Judge Stanley Mosk ruled in favor of Wilder and Paramount. Desny appealed and in August 1956 the California Supreme Court ruled his oral submission had been legitimate. Wilder's attorneys settled that same month, paying Desny $14,350 (equivalent to $161,000 in 2023).^[9][4]

Writing

In the original script, Tatum colluded with the local sheriff. Joseph Breen of the Hays Code office strongly objected to the on-screen depiction of a corrupt law enforcement officer, and insisted Wilder add dialogue making it clear the man eventually would be made to answer for his actions.^[10]

Filming

The final cost of the film was $1,821,052, of which $250,000 was paid to Wilder as writer, producer and director.^[11] Its exterior set, (35°23′49″N 109°01′09″W), which was constructed 19 miles west of Gallup, was the largest non-combat set ever constructed at the time. It measured 235 feet (72 m) high, 1,200 feet (370 m) wide, and 1,600 feet (490 m) deep and included an ancient cliff dwelling, collapsed cave, roadside stands, parking lots and a carnival site. Underground scenes were filmed in a mock-up at the Paramount Studios on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood.^[12] More than 1,000 extras and 400 cars were utilized in the crowd scenes. After the film was completed, Paramount charged admission to the set.^[13]

Frank Cady's character identifies himself as a salesman for Pacific All-Risk Insurance, a fictitious company featured in Wilder's 1944 film Double Indemnity.

Soundtrack

Jay Livingston and Ray Evans wrote the song "We're Coming, Leo," performed by a vocalist and band at the carnival.^[14]

Critical response

At the time of its release, critics found little to admire. In his review in The New York Times, Bosley Crowther called it "a masterly film" but added, "Mr. Wilder has let imagination so fully take command of his yarn that it presents not only a distortion of journalistic practice but something of a dramatic grotesque ... [it] is badly weakened by a poorly constructed plot, which depends for its strength upon assumptions that are not only naïve but absurd. There isn't any denying that there are vicious newspaper men and that one might conceivably take advantage of a disaster for his own private gain. But to reckon that one could so tie up and maneuver a story of any size, while other reporters chew their fingers, is simply incredible."^[15]

The Hollywood Reporter called it "ruthless and cynical ... a distorted study of corruption and mob psychology that ... is nothing more than a brazen, uncalled-for slap in the face of two respected and frequently effective American institutions – democratic government and the free press."^[16] Variety was more positive, noting "the performances are fine. Douglas enacts the heel reporter ably, giving it color to balance its unsympathetic character. Jan Sterling also is good in a role that has no softening touches, and Benedict's victim portrayal is first-rate. Billy Wilder's direction captures the feel of morbid expectancy that always comes out in the curious that flock to scenes of tragedy."^[17]

Film critic Manny Farber in The Nation, July 14, 1951, wrote:

Ace in the Hole is built chiefly round the acting of a tough, corrupt newshound by Kirk Douglas. Douglas plays it in the worst style of the Yiddish theatre, bursting with self-pity, slowing everything with a muscular, tensed-up technique, and ranting as though he were trying to break the hearts of people blocks away from the theatre. His conceited hamming is pretty typical of the whole show…”^[18]

Retrospective appraisals

The film has found new respect among critics. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote in 2007, "Although the film is 56 years old, I found while watching it again that it still has all its power. It hasn't aged because Wilder and his co-writers, Walter Newman and Lesser Samuels, were so lean and mean [with their dialogue] ... [Kirk Douglas'] focus and energy ... is almost scary. There is nothing dated about [his] performance. It's as right-now as a sharpened knife."^[19]

Dave Kehr in the Chicago Reader called it "cold, lurid, and fascinating"^[20] and Nathan Lee of The Village Voice wrote, "Here is, half a century out of the past, a movie so acidly au courant it stings."^[21]

Time Out London wrote, "As a diatribe against all that is worst in human nature, it has moments dipped in pure vitriol."^[22] TV Guide called it "a searing example of writer-director Billy Wilder at his most brilliantly misanthropic" and adds, "An uncompromising portrait of human nature at its worst, the film ... stands as one of the great American films of the 1950s."^[23]

Ed Gonzalez of Slant wrote that the film "... allowed Wilder to question the very nature of human interest stories and the twisted relationship between the American media and its public. More than 50 years after the film's release, when magazines compete to come up with the cattiest buzz terms and giddily celebrate the demise of celebrity relationships for buffo bucks, Ace in the Hole feels more relevant than ever."^[24]

In his Slate review, Jack Shafer wrote in 2007: "If film noir illustrates the crackup of the American dream ... Ace in the Hole is an exemplar of the form."^[6]

The film was included in film critic Roger Ebert's list of "The Great Movies" in 2007.^[25] In September 2008, Empire published its list of the Top 500 greatest movies of all time. With votes from 10,000 readers of the magazine along with 500 key film critics and 150 film industry figures, this film is ranked number 385.^[26] In 2015, the film ranked 100th on BBC's "100 Greatest American Films" list, voted on by film critics from around the world.^[27]

In 2022, Eddie Muller, founder and president of the Film Noir Foundation, in a Facebook "Noir or Not" segment stated that Ace in the Hole incorrectly gets labeled as a film noir because of director Wilder's other films Double Indemnity (1944) and Sunset Boulevard (1950), and because of the cynical storyline. Muller feels that Ace in the Hole is without many of the characteristics normally associated with film noir, and that it is more of a film about sleazy journalism.^[7]