Hepcat and I went to Movies with a View last night in Brooklyn Bridge Park to see Ace in the Hole, a dark, funny, cynical Billy Wilder film about a tabloid reporter, played by Kirk Douglas (who was nominated for an Academy Award), stuck at a small New Mexico newspaper, who hooks a big story and makes a lot of trouble.

The Location: Brooklyn Bridge Park has to be one of the greatest spots in the world to see a movie on a gorgeous night. You’ve got views of lower Manhattan, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge, the Elliasson’s waterfall, and the old and very dramatic-looking factory buildings next to the park.

You could just sit there and not watch the movie and have a great time.

The Screen: They’ve got a very cool blow up screen that has good visibility from lots of directions. It did cut off some of the picture. But hey. 

The Sound: Not so great considering the roar of the two bridges and the sound of boats on the river.

The Food: They’ve got Mexican style food from Rice, which confused me because I thought it was a Thai place. Hot dogs, corn on the cob, too. And a very tasty ginger lemonade. Not too expensive.

The Speeches: A host of politicans (supporters of the park), ncluding State Senator Eric Adams, a made speeches before the show.  I thought I heard Marty Markowitz’s voice but it was a different Marty, Marty O’Connor, another State Senator.

The event was a little long on the speechifying about development of the park. But I guess that’s what Movies With A View is all about. I thought it was interesting that they never mentioned the name of next week’s movie. It’s Pleasantville, by the way.

The Movie: Absolutely fantastic on a lot of levels. Kirk Douglas’ performance is over the top, hammy, intense, serious, and very funny all at the same time. Amazing. It’s so in your face!

The script, co-written by Billy Wilder, is just jam packed with great lines of dialogue about tabloid journalism, New York, and the lengths newspapers will go for a good story. The movie, made in 1951, is unbelievably prescient. It predicts everything that has happened in the subsequent years in print and television journalism and the public’s appetite for certain kinds of stories.

The Experience: Priceless. I am always so pleased when I actually do one of the things that I blog about.