Ball of Fire (1941)

"Shove in your clutch." Sugarpuss O'Shea

Written by Billy Wilder (Some Like It Hot) and directed by Howard Hawks (Scarface) is the screwball comedy for the ages Ball of Fire starring the drop dead gorgeous Barbara Stanwyck (Lady of Burlesque) as stripper/nightclub singer/gun moll "Sugarpuss O'Shea" along with Gary Cooper (Sergeant York) as the mild mannered "Professor Potts" who is preparing an encyclopedia, along with his seven colleagues, male professors all - and bachelors, every one.

The eight gentlemen, each an expert in a different academic discipline, are working for the Totten Foundation, writing a comprehensive dictionary in memory of the founder. They have already been working nine years and the trustee asks them when they are going to wind the work up only to be told "three more years." While not exactly ecstatic to hear the news, the trustee, a homely spinster, is sweet on "Prof. Potts" (Gary Cooper) who is about half the age and a head taller than his fellow professors, so she agrees to an extension.

According to writer Billy Wilder, the idea of the tall and gangly Cooper paired up with the seven shorter, gnomelike professors was based on "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" with Cooper, obviously, Snow White.

As they plan how to get the dictionary jump started, the garbage man comes in and starts speaking slang. Cooper, the linguist, realizes his 20-page article on slang is out of date, so he prowls around the city listening to speakers and inviting those with creative language to participate in a roundtable discussion the following morning. He ends up in a nightclub listing to a sexy dame in an eye popping costume singing "Drum Boogie;" incidentally, that's the real Gene Krupa on the drums.

The singer is none other than our heroine "Sugarpuss O'Shea" (Barbara Stanwyck) and boy, is she an eyeful in her brief sparkly costume. He gives her his card and invites her to the roundtable. Backstage she gets word that the DA is looking for her to testify against her gangster boyfriend (Dana Andrews). Andrews' thugs help her elude the DA and deliver her to Cooper's doorstep. The professors are delighted to meet her and she commandeers one of their beds for the night.

She is a big hit with everybody but the housekeeper, who bristles at the thought of another woman under "her" roof. But Stanwyck charms all the men, speaking slang, teaching them to dance the conga, and showing Cooper what "yum yum" is. Andrews sends for Stanwyck but she begins to realize that she has fallen for the professor, as big a nerd as he is. The rest of the movie plays out showing how they get these two together.

Ball of Fire is a very well made comedy with a barrel of laughs and Barbara Stanwyck is clearly the pace setter. Cooper does better than expected with his pratfalls and straight lines, contributing more to the fun than you would expect, based on his typical strong silent type portrayals. Director Howard Hawks was able to draw the best out of his performers and got two good ones out of Gary Cooper that year; here, and coaching Cooper to a Best Actor Oscar for "Sergeant York" another classic movie. The cinematography is by Gregg Toland, one of the premier deep focus specialists who also shot the indelible footage of "Citizen Kane" the same year.

The supporting cast was a who's who of famous character actors that you might not recognize by name but surely would know by face, and at least one by his distinctive voice.

The MGM DVD is in black and white, in 1.33:1 theatrical format, and runs 111 minutes.

This is a great comedy for classical film buffs, fans of the stars, and people interested in colorful '40s slang.




Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good Date Movie