Ace in the Hole

Saw Ace in the Hole. I wanted to see it because it was directed by the same guy who directed Sunset Blvd, Billy Wilder. Boy, did it deliver. Like Sunset Blvd, the protagonist is a guy naturally drawn to exploitation. He's a down-on-his-luck reporter who's found a great story: a man trapped in a cave-in. As he exploits the story he starts off paying lip-service to his job ("I don't make things happen, I just report 'em") but eventually even this sham is abandoned as he lets his own lust for notoriety and showboating get the better of him. Wilder lets the stakes and tension mount and mount until the feverish, hysterical end. Some of the symbolism was a bit heavy (His old editor is good, often shot with crosses. His new friends are evil, have pet rattlesnakes (which I think they kill)) but he has some great "terrible" scenes, like when the miner comes into the protagonist's office, proclaiming doom. Great stuff.