John Burke pulls your coat to "Ace in the Hole"

My friend John Burke is one of those guys whose quirky knowledge never ceases to amaze me. He doesn't have a blog, but he has a list of friends he emails with great tidbits or links to really cool stuff. I'm privileged to be on that list. A couple of weeks ago, he sent out the following, which I have cut and pasted below. I remember seeing this movie on TV years ago and feeling the cynicism of which John speaks. I'd really like to see it again, uncut, restored and without the commercials.

John's link below indicates that the release will not be until early July, and Netflix does not have it in their listings yet.

Hi--

"Ace in the Hole" was also released under the title "The Big Carnival" but was known around Hollywood as "Ass in the Crack," because it was widely believed that Wilder had destroyed his career by making such a cynical movie, particularly in the second year of the Korean War. All the characters are repellent--either grasping and manipulative, or just suckers; US popular culture is depicted as an unbroken sea of commercial kitsch, and when the male lead (Kirk Douglas) asks the female lead (Jan Sterling) why she isn't going to church on Sunday morning, she says "Kneeling bags my nylons." Needless to say I love this movie and am thrilled to see that those wonderful people at Criterion are releasing it in a spiffy new DVD transfer, with commentary 'n stuff, within the next few weeks. Put it on your Netflix queue or buy one to keep at

http://tinyurl.com/yt6k7j