#route66: The El Rancho Hotel Was the Headquarters For the Movie “Ace In the Hole”

This Hollywood hotspot was the base for a notable film by a legendary writer-director.

by Rich Watson 

Funny bit of trivia about Gallup, New Mexico: Route 66 passes through it, but so does another highway which used to be called Highway 666. In 2003 the New Mexico governor got the name changed because of the satanic associations with the 666 number.

You’ll find no demons, however, at Gallup’s most notable lodging: the El Rancho Hotel.

Only the ghosts of old Hollywood.

Movies shot in New Mexico 

New Mexico was, and is, a great spot for filming movies, including:

• The Grapes of Wrath. John Ford’s adaptation of the John Steinbeck novel was filmed, in part, in Santa Rosa. The scene where Henry Fonda watches the train cross the bridge into the sunset? That was in Santa Rosa.
• Gas-s-s-s. Roger Corman shot part of his black comedy in Belen, a town notable for an annual Spanish-style barbecue called a matanza.
• Young Guns. The eighties Brat Pack western was shot in Santa Fe and a couple of smaller towns, Ojo Caliente and Cerrillos.
• No Country For Old Men. The Coen Brothers shot their Best Picture winner, in part, in Albuquerque and the OTHER Las Vegas, where Red Dawn and the A&E TV show Longmire were also filmed. 
• Oppenheimer. Christopher Nolan’s biopic of the atomic bomb creator was partially filmed in Los Alamos (interiors only), where the actual bomb was developed, while exteriors were shot in a place called Abiquiu, a place with only 181 residents as of 2020.

In addition, there was a movie called Truth or Consequences, NM (directed by and starring Kiefer Sutherland), but it wasn’t actually shot there.

One notable movie filmed in and around Gallup is the drama Ace in the Hole.

Ace in the Hole and Billy Wilder

Billy Wilder is my favorite director. He was of German descent, but his movies, in collaboration with his favorite writers, Charles Brackett and I. A. L. Diamond, spoke of mid-twentieth century American life like he was born here: our culture, our politics, our self-identity. He did it with a wry sense of humor and a sensitivity to that which makes us human: the way we relate to each other, and the things we value.

Two of his films, The Lost Weekend and The Apartment, won Best Picture. Wilder personally won six Oscars, including Best Director twice. 

He worked with the biggest names in Hollywood: Marilyn Monroe, Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, Gary Cooper, Marlene Dietrich, and more. His filmography includes iconic movies: Sunset Boulevard, Some Like It Hot, Double Indemnity, Sabrina, Stalag 17. 

He was one of Tinseltown’s giants.

Ace in the Hole (AKA “The Big Carnival”), released in 1951, starred Kirk Douglas as a down-and-out reporter who stumbles upon a story: a man trapped in a New Mexico cave. Douglas, however, sensationalizes the situation for his own benefit, turning the story into a media event out of all proportion to its worth.

It’s a pitch black movie, one that’s difficult to watch in places. Douglas’ cynical character is desperate to escape the small-town paper he’s stuck in. He shapes the public’s perception of the story of the man in the cave at every turn until he can’t control it anymore. He’s a snake, but you can’t keep your eyes off him.

According to IMDB, Wilder shot not only in the New Mexico desert, but in Albuquerque, Laguna Pueblo, and Gallup, a town of 9133 in 1950. Gallup residents were extras, paid 75 cents an hour for ten-hour days.

While shooting it, cast and crew stayed at the El Rancho.

Gallup and the El Rancho

The El Rancho opened in 1936. R. E. Griffith built it specifically as a base of operations for movie productions. The nearby Fred Harvey Company hotel chain provided experienced employees. (The common belief that Griffith was the brother of pioneering filmmaker D. W. Griffith has been debunked.)

Hollywood came to Gallup and the El Rancho primarily to shoot over a hundred westerns, throughout the thirties through the fifties.

The downturn in popularity of westerns, coupled with the opening of Interstate 40, which parallels much of Route 66, led to the El Rancho’s decline. Armand Ortega, a trader of Native paraphernalia, bought it in 1986 and restored it. Two years later, it reopened.

This page has photos of the El Rancho’s interior, which includes photos of classic Hollywood stars.

Gallup’s notable Native population has earned it the moniker “the Heart of Indian Country.” In particular, the Navajo have a reservation there. Among their achievements include their role as “code talkers,” military messengers who use their obscure language to pass along important information in wartime.

Gallup also lies on the trail of a Scenic Byway with archaeological sites going back to prehistory.

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Route 66 attractions in New Mexico:

• Blue Swallow Motel (Tucumcari): an L-shaped motel from 1939.
• Maisel’s Indian Trading Post (Albuquerque): Native craft store from 1939.
• Madonna of the Trail (Albuquerque): monuments honoring pioneer women, commissioned by the Daughters of the American Revolution.
• Rio Puerco Bridge (Bernalillo County): a through truss bridge west of Albuquerque.
• Fort Wingate (McKinley County): military installation near Gallup.

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Have you been to the El Rancho Hotel? Leave a comment and let me know!

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