Ball of Fire

source: Ball of Fire

A group of 8 professors have spent a load of Miss Totten's (Mary Field) cash writing an encyclopedia and now they are under pressure to finish the blasted thing. Professor Potts (Gary Cooper) goes off to research some slang and meets up with Sugarpuss (Barbara Stanwyck) who is wanted by the police in order to bring a murder charge against her gangster boyfriend Joe (Dana Andrews). She shows up at the lodgings that the professors are sharing with the help of a couple of Joe's henchmen - Pastrami (Dan Duryea) and Anderson (Ralph Peters) - in order to hideout. She bides her time, having fun with the old codgers before it's time to make her move and link up with Joe. However, Professor Potts is under the impression that she is going to marry him and has no idea of her intended plan to marry Joe instead. The gangsters and the professors meet for a showdown and there can only be one winner.... The film is a comedy that is drawn-out in several sequences and has a tedious sentimental segment at a dinner table that loses the audience's attention. The cast are mainly good - especially Stanwyck, Andrews and Duryea - and a mention must also go to the very likable Allen Jenkins who plays the garbage man. He's really "Officer Dibble" as always. Against these good performances are the numpty professors and the landlady Kathleen Howard, with an actually terrible performance from Richard Haydn as one of the professors. If you can't work out which professor he is then you have serious problems. He is DREADFUL with an atrocious comedy voice that fails to register a smile. A real weak link. Stanwyck provides sex appeal, comedy and strength as demonstrated in her scenes of seduction with Cooper, her teaching the professors to do the conga and her tough, no-nonsense character when confronted by Kathleen Howard. She smacks her one and it's great. There is also a fun segment showcasing Kid Krupa and his orchestra. Overall, the film is too long and so it cools off at various moments and Cooper plays another dumb-ass like he did in Sergeant York. However, it's a better film than the other Stanwyck film "The Lady Eve" released in the same year.

If Barbara Stanwyck only made movies like Ball of Fire and The Lady Eve, I wouldn't like her at all. Thankfully, she made dramatic films that showed she could act, like Stella Dallas and Clash by Night. I like Barbara Stanwyck very much. I have nothing against screwball comedies, and when done well, they're quite hilarious. Even though Ball of Fire is very well-known, I can't stand it! Gary Cooper leads a group of researchers looking to write an encyclopedia. They meet a jazzy, modern nightclub singer, Barbara Stanwyck, and she helps the stuffed shirts learn what their books can't teach them. I don't know why it's fondly remembered; it's stupid. I've never laughed at jokes about how brilliant people don't know anything because they're not street smart. Street smarts are essential and admirable, but book smarts are just as commendable, and when years of studious dedication is scoffed at in the movies, I don't laugh. If you like that sort of humor, by all means, rent Ball of Fire.

The majority of old-movie buffs will probably enjoy "Ball of Fire." It has bucketloads of 1940s charm and a great creative team behind it, including acclaimed director Howard Hawks, Billy Wilder on writing duties and, of course, the ever-sultry Barbara Stanwyck as the femme fatale. And yet, it falls somewhat flat for me. It's too cutesy for my tastes. I know Wilder is a very respected film-maker, but I find all of his movies to be rather dated (with the possible exception of "The Apartment") and, at their worst, exceedingly twee. Everything about "Ball of Fire" is rather silly and precious, including its portrayal of absent-minded academics, comedy gangsters and a rather unbelievable romance between Stanwyck and Gary Cooper, who plays a total stiff. In my book, the film's saving grace is that Stanwyck generates a lot of heat (though not a lot of chemistry with Cooper). Some of her seductive dialog is so campy and dated that it's glorious. And the film as a whole has a pleasantly campy atmosphere. It's entirely silly and innocent, so in some ways it's preferable to the crass brand of movies that Hollywood churns out today. But, alas, "Ball of Fire" does not even approach classic status. Every time I caught sight of Henry Travers - who plays one of the goofy professors - I was reminded of "It's a Wonderful Life," an infinitely better movie. And every time I caught sight of Leonid Kinskey, I was reminded of "Casablanca" - another infinitely better movie. In other words, just about everybody concerned with this film has appeared in something better.

Ball of Fire is a real 'screwball' comedy, and it being directed by Howard Hawks, who made arguably the best one of all (His Girl Friday), ups the stakes just a bit. Not only that, but it was one of Billy Wilder's first projects on a screenplay, and his sharp wit comes through in almost every scene that needs it. And more than that, when the movie needs to be romantic, without any frills, it really is. At the center of the craziness that becomes the story (mostly towards the end and early on and a little in the middle) is a story that we know is formulaic- that a woman who is already attached (if not quite yet hitched) to someone else falls into an unlikely situation with another man and the two suddenly become really close, the man first and then the woman- but its the chemistry between a sexy pre-Double Indemnity Barbara Stanwyck with conservative Gary Cooper. If, ultimately, it doesn't have the machine-gun energy of His Girl Friday (then again, few movies do), it makes up for it with a fun premise that Hawks and Wilder ride out logically, as far as comedy premises can go. It's about seven professors and their leader professor, played by Cooper, who for years have been writing an encyclopedia and are coming close to the end... except for a snag - slang words. The old guys and intellectuals haven't a clue as to what words like "Boogie" and "sugar-puss" mean, until they get a few people off the street to tell them. That, and a nightclub singer (Stanwyck) on the run from the cops after she gets unwittingly (and unfairly) mixed up in a murder plot with her fiancée. So, she shacks up with Cooper and his fellow profs, and it becomes Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with the twist that the girl this time is a lot more wily (and tempting) while the men are... old professor types who know almost everything except the human heart. But Hawks makes twist on his own premise as he goes along, too. We see the natural progression of the plot, of Cooper quickly falling in love with Stanwyck's advances (all fake at first just so she can stay at the house), and then little by little she falls for him too, or at least feels so guilty about what she's doing to see the old geezers as real people instead of obstacles. There are a few key scenes that break the mold of the comedic antics (some of which, like Stanwyck showing the old men how to dance is hilarious and memorable): one is the bachelor dinner between the professors, when the one professor, played by Richard Haydn, talks about his marriage from many years before, and it becomes genuinely tender and sincere, not played for laughs, certainly not when they're all singing the song Gienevive. The other scene is when Cooper walks into the wrong room (thinking it's a professor and not his future wife) and asks for advice about what to do, as he loves her and isn't sure about himself. It's all shot in dark, with a few specific lighting touches, and it's about perfect. The ensemble is entertaining- from the old men with their various (sometimes interchangeable) personalities, to the film-noir knockoffs playing the henchmen of Joe Lilac- and there are many lines and moments that, upon a repeat viewing, should become even quotable. It could be said that it's slightly dated in some of its approach to tradition vs. the titillating, but it never loses its sense of humor, all the way up to the climax. Oh, and it also happens to feature one of the best nightclub music scenes in the movies, with Gene Krupa and his band doing "Drum Boogie", first in its usual form (a fantastic drum solo at the end), and then a variation on it with Krupa performing the song in a huddle of people with matchsticks on a matchbox. A small masterpiece of music in the middle of very good romantic comedy.

This is the perfect film to view in between seeing today's myriad message movies and super-techno thrillers. In stunning black-and-white the merry adventures of bachelor and aging academics, struggling to complete a massive encyclopedia funded by an increasingly doubtful (and homely) heiress, unfold. The scholars encounter the beautiful (and wonderful) Barbara Stanwyck, a gang moll who needs to hide out while her crime boss boyfriend seeks to avoid an unpleasant prosecution related to a rival who disappeared wearing concrete shoes (low tech disposal of the suddenly terminated was the simple order of the day in 1941). Gary Cooper is the youngest of the researchers and, obviously, from the first moment that he and the gorgeous Stanwyck set eyes on each other, the ultimate outcome can't be in doubt. No psychological exploration of the nature of evil or the vagaries of love between opposites darken this sprightly gem from the vaults. The cast must have enjoyed making this film. Easily obtainable for rent or for purchase, "Ball of Fire" shows pre-Pearl Harbor comedic Hollywood at its zenith.

This film (remade in 1948 as a musical with Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo with the title, "A Song Is Born") is a hilarious vehicle for Barbara Stanwyck, who was nominated for Best Actress for her performance here. Anyone who has only seen Ms. Stanwyck in film noir such as "Double Indemnity" or in television's Big Valley should watch this or "Christmas In Connecticut" to see a fine comedic talent at work. She blows Gary Cooper off the screen! Most Recommended.

When you think of Gary Cooper, what kinds of part do you think of? Strong silent men, men of honor, gunfighters of the old west, people like Sergeant York and the Sheriff in "High Noon", right? You certainly don't think funny, and you'd certainly never think he could play a NERD, but he does in this film. Not only is he a convincing complete geek, but he's funny, AND sexy! The story is pretty silly (inspired by "Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs", really): A group of dorky professors are writing an encyclopedia, and English Professor Cooper decides he needs more information on Slang. In his quest for current jive talk he meets Barbara Stanwyck, as a too-lively singer/gang moll. She takes advantage of his invitation to discuss verbiage to use his ivory tower as a hideout, and moves in with the professors. She quickly decides to stay, then to have her way with Coop (who wouldn't), and then falls... A very funny, sprightly film, fast-paced and full of wonderful performances. Stanwyck is glowingly wonderful, but I still can't get over Cooper's wonderful characterization of a supremely attractive total geek. If that sounds like a contradiction in terms, see the movie and you'll realize it's true.

This is a madcap comedy directed by Howard Hawks with Billy Wilder contributing to the screenplay. Film noir queen Barbara Stanwyck is funny and flippant as "Sugarpuss" O'Shea, a night club singer who wants to hide from her mobster boyfriend who is insisting on marriage. It happens that she catches the eye of Prof. Bertram Potts(Gary Cooper)who is one of a group of mundane scholars compiling an encyclopedia of the English language. Potts has ventured from the egghead's boarding house to pick up street slang and invites several people to provide definitions of the words uttered by the common man. "Sugarpuss" takes the invitation and uses the boarding house as her hideout. Of course the meek and mild mannered Potts falls in love with this vibrant woman of the world. Cooper and Stanwyck get support from a talented lot featuring: Oskar Homolka, Henry Travers, Dan Duryea and Dana Andrews.

1941 may very well have been Gary Cooper's career year. His film performances that year are among his best, the Oscar winning Sergeant York, Frank Capra's classic Meet John Doe, and this sparking comedy Ball of Fire. However it was Barbara Stanwyck who snagged an Oscar nomination for this film with her portrayal of sassy nightclub singer Sugarpuss O'Shea. Stanwyck lost however to Joan Fontaine in Suspicion. A whole lot of talent went into the making of this film besides the two leads. Howard Hawks worked from a script by Billy Wilder and his writing partner, Charles Brackett. And Hawks put together a superb list of supporting players including seven of our finest character actors to be Cooper's professorial colleagues, Henry Travers, Leonid Kinskey, Aubrey Mather, Oscar Homolka, S.Z. Sakall, Tully Marshall and making his film debut, Richard Haydn. These eight cloistered academicians are working off a grant to create some kind of ultimate encyclopedia. Cooper's specialty is the English language. A garbageman played by Allen Jenkins awakens him to a whole generation of new slang terms he hasn't heard. Cooper ventures out into the world and meets a variety of people and hears a whole batch of new expressions. His wanderings take him to a nightclub where he hears Stanwyck singing with Gene Krupa's band. Stanwyck's just filled with all the new hep jive talk, but she's also ducking a grand jury subpoena to testify against her boy friend, gangster Dana Andrews. She decides a good place to hide might just be the house where all these professors are quartered. It's quite a mismatch, scholarly and shy Cooper and brazen Stanwyck, In fact Hawks modeled Cooper's Bertram Potts on the character Cary Grant played in Bringing Up Baby which Hawks also directed. Cooper was as successful as Grant in breaking his stereotype though he never quite got the physical comedy down the way Cary did. Still Ball of Fire is a great big ball of amusement. I'm surprised there hasn't been a remake of this recently. Danny Kaye did a remake called A Song Is Born later in the decade with Kaye being a music professor instead. But I can see the possibilities of a remake here with this group of academicians putting together a Wikipedia like encyclopedia or even an ultimate search engine for the internet like Google.