 Spangler's girlfriends told police that she was three months pregnant when she disappeared, and scholars such as Jon Lewis of Oregon State University have speculated that she may have been considering an illegal abortion.In 1951, Douglas starred as a newspaper reporter anxiously looking for a big story in "Ace in the Hole", director Billy Wilder's first effort as both writer and producer.The subject and story was controversial at the time, and U.S. audiences stayed away.