Monthly meeting of the Mainstream Film group. If the group is restarted as hoped, in July, our film will be the 1951 American satirical drama Ace in the Hole, directed, produced, and co-written by Billy Wilder. The film stars Kirk Douglas as the cynical, disgraced reporter Charles "Chuck" Tatum who has been fired from eleven major newspapers due to his behavior, temper, and alcoholism. Now with a small-time newspaper in Albuquerque, New Mexico, he creates a media circus surrounding a man trapped in a cave to try to regain a job on a major newspaper. The film co-stars Jan Sterling and features Robert Arthur and Porter Hall.

Just before the film's release, Paramount Pictures changed the title to The Big Carnival. Early television broadcasts retained that title, but when aired by Turner Classic Movies – and when released on DVD by The Criterion Collection in July 2007 – it reverted to Ace in the Hole.

Running time 1 hour 51 minutes