20 Movies That Are Flawed Masterpieces

8. Ace In The Hole (1951)

When people talk about Billy Wilder, they usually cite established classics such as Some Like It Hot, The Apartment and Sunset Boulevard - all great, of course, and worthy of their reputations, but you rarely hear about Ace in the Hole (or "The Big Carnival" as it was first known), the director's noticeably flawed though undeniably prophetic masterpiece.

The film, which follows a wise-cracking and incredibly determined reporter named Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas) who finds himself entangled in remarkable story when a man gets trapped in a cave, Ace in the Hole was more than ahead of its time - it is essentially a send-up of tabloid journalism and its associated dark side (i.e. exploitation of the innocent). Of course, the film was deemed to be cynical trash when it first made its way into theatres, and it bombed at the box office as a result.

Though it probably is Wilder's most cynical movie, that doesn't mean it's a bad film in any capacity; in fact, despite some niggling flaws (the structure is questionable; Douglas is slightly hammy; it leaves a bad taste in your mouth), this is a cinematic gold - one to rank just behind Wilder's best-known classics.