10 Unjustly Forgotten Films By Famous Directors

1. Billy Wilder - Ace In The Hole

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNlbYQ2UOnw We come to the end of our list with one of the greatest films ever made by one of the greatest directors of all time; my favorite director, in fact. This is the darkest, most cynical film that Billy Wilder ever made, and, considering that Wilder is the man who made Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard, and The Lost Weekend, that's really saying something. The film's hard, intense look at the media and greed is probably the reason that the film was universally panned upon its initial release; more on that later. Wilder constructs his dark tale around Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas), a washed-up reporter who walks into an Albuquerque, New Mexico, newspaper office looking for a job. Out of pity, the editor takes him on and proceeds to send Tatum on a series of assignments that Tatum deems below his standards. On his way to a rattlesnake hunt, Tatum comes upon a tourist trap where a tragedy has occurred; the owner of the trap, Leo Minosa (Richard Benedict), has been trapped in a nearby cave when part of the cave's roof fell on his legs. Smelling an opportunity, Tatum eschews the rattlesnake hunt and writes a highly melodramatic story about Minosa's plight. The story is an instant success and people begin flocking to the cave. Also sensing a ticket out of New Mexico, Minosa's conniving, black widow-esque wife (Jan Sterling) arranges for carnival equipment, bands, and petting zoos to come to the tourist trap. Wanting to milk their good fortune for as long as possible, Tatum and Minosa's wife, along with the crooked county sheriff (Ray Teal), bully the county engineer (Lewis Martin) into taking the longest possible way to get to Minosa, stretching what could have been a one-day project into almost a week. There's a lot of greed floating around in this film, and Wilder seems as disgusted by it as his audience; he arranges it so the movie doesn't end too well for anybody. There's not a single sympathetic character in this film (with the exception of Leo Minosa), but we're riveted anyway; even though we're repulsed by these people, we're still curious as to what will happen to them and we willingly follow them to their tragic ends. This film effectively disproves the conventional wisdom that a character must be likable for an audience to be interested in them. This is part of Wilder's genius; he understood that all of us are fascinated by the dark side of our natures, and he explored that side more than once during the course of his career. Both audiences and critics seemed to think Wilder had gone too far with this film; critics savaged the film and audiences stayed away in droves. Wilder redeemed himself with critics and audiences with his next film, the excellent World War II POW drama Stalag 17, but Ace In The Hole faded into obscurity. The film has started to be re-discovered; it's slowly gaining the acclaim it deserves, but it's still largely unknown. More people need to see this film; in fact, I'll go so far as to say that, if you see only one film on this list, you need to make it this one. It's that good. It's not on Youtube, and I don' t think there's a VHS copy of it, either; there is, however, an excellent Criterion Collection DVD edition, which contains a beautiful-looking version of the film and is crammed with tons of special features, including a booklet which contains two in-depth essays on Wilder and Ace In The Hole. It's really worth the money. So, WhatCulture fanatics, there you have it: ten unjustly forgotten films by famous directors. Have I overlooked any gems? Disagree with my assessment of any of the above movies? Agree with me whole-heartedly? Let your voice be heard below!