The magnetic Kirk Douglas plays Chuck Tatum, a nihilistic, alcoholic newspaperman who siezes on human tragedy to boost his career in Billy Wilder’s Ace in the Hole, perhaps the most cynical film of the 1950’s. Tatum doesn’t exactly try to murder Leo Minosa (Richard Benedict) for an exclusive scoop, but he misleads the rescue crew into taking the longer route to save Leo, who lies trapped in a collapsed cave. Prolonging the recovery effort prolongs the news cycle, of course, while giving Tatum ample time to engage in a sadistic affair with the trapped man’s wife (Jan Sterling). Occasional religious symbolism feels misplaced and dirty; even Tatum’s final speech to the gathering crowds plays like a perversion of Moses’ descent of Mount Sinai. Ironically, the bright desert sunshine exposes all the evil parasitism and consumerism outside while the film’s only classic noir lighting frames the deterioration of goodness in the form of Leo, stuck inside the earth with only his conscience and regrets.