Steven Spielberg's favorite movie is Billy Wilder's (writer & director) 1951 Ace in the Hole starring Kirk Douglas. Check it out sometime on Netlfix, or TCM. By the way, it's not a western. But a character-driven drama set in Albuquerque, New Mexico when a small-town local is trapped in a cave-in under some Native-American ruins. Douglas plays a ruthless newspaper writer who milks the story nationwide a bit too far.
My favorite line from the move comes from Jan Sterling's character (the trapped man's wife) to Kirk Douglas, "I knew you were hard-boiled. But you - you're 20 minutes!".
Check out some other lines from this gem, it's what good script writing is all about.
Give this classic a try sometime. By the way, Billy Wilder also did (among many others) The Lost Weekend, Sunset Boulevard, Stalag 17, Sabrina, The Seven Year Itch, The Spirit of St. Louis, Witness for the Prosecution, Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Irma la Douce.
