"Billy Wilder's bleakest work, a cynical story of a down-and-out newspaper reporter who discovers a man trapped in a remote desert cave and then exploits the situation by delaying the rescue operations to keep the story in the national headlines. The most effective indictment of gutter journalism ever put on screen and memorable for its biting screenplay (an original that closely parallels the Floyd Collins case of the 1920s), Wilder's shrewd direction, and the New Mexico photography." --R.A.F. Pickard. "Its misanthropic vision of boob-belt Americana is Preston Sturges crossed with Fritz Lang. It reeks of cynicism, guilt, and remorse.... And at the end of the line is Kirk Douglas as the degraded journalist, and Jan Sterling as his murderously materialistic mistress...." --Andrew Sarris