Ball of Fire (DVD)

I have watched this movie many times over the years and every time I see it I find something else to enjoy about it. The premise has been likened to Snow White and the Seven Drawfs, seven bachelor's living in a New York mansion who are writing an encyclopedia covering a wide range of topics. Each professor brings their own area and knowledge to the project. Gary Cooper who I absolutely adored was the grammar expert. A chance visit by a refuse man looking for answers to a quiz he is entering bring an entirely new realm of word phrasing they have never heard. Realizing how cut off and far removed they are from the mainstream, the words he is speaking sound like a foreign language. Gary Cooper's character decides he must go out into the real world and observe this jive way of speaking as to be able to rewrite his entry in the book they are compling. He meets Sugarpuss O'Schae A nightclub singer and asks her along with others to help him rewrite and understand this new way of speaking. What follows is absolutely delightful and entertaining! All of the professors are instantly smitten by her. She is reluctant to get involved in their project, but it turns out the police are looking for her in connection to her gangster boyfriend. But they start to grow on her as well, especially Gary Cooper who suddenly falls in love. This formidable actress blows all of the stuffy cobwebs out of their dreary lives and brings a ray of sunshine. The veteran actors playing the professors are endearing especially the only one who was previously married and has at least some knowledge of females. Enjoyable scenes where she teaches them to dance and unknowingly brings Gary Cooper under her spell are priceless. Drummer Gene Krupper makes an appearance, and watching Gary Cooper pretending not to know how to fight is worth watching just for that scene alone. You instantly think you of him as Will Kane in High Noon or his performane in Sargeant York and realize what a talented actor he is. From playing strong tough guys who never back down to this version of him as a softie is enjoyable indeed. I believe it was directed by Billy Wilder who may have had a hand in some of the dialogue as well. Overall a 5 Glittering Star movie with 2 outstanding actors! CORRECTION: Howard Hawks directed this film, Billy Wilder co-wrote the script. Sorry for the incorrect statement.

"Ball Of Fire" is one my favorite screwball romantic comedies. It was made towards the end of a golden era of this genre of films, which also includes such better-known classics as "The Philadelphia Story" (1940), "His Girl Friday" (1940) and "Bringing Up Baby" (1938). Directed by Howard Hawks, the master of rapid-fire comedic dialogue, it tells the story of nerdy language scholar Bertram Potts (Gary Cooper, in one of his best "aw-shucks" performances, along with "Mr. Deeds Goes To Town") who lives in a house with seven other stodgy, albeit older bachelor scholars, all of whom are working on an encyclopedia. Upon discovering that his knowledge of slang is outdated, Potts bravely ventures forth into the real world, where he discovers flashy (literally, as the dress she is first seen in is sequined and purposely lit so as to momentarily "blind" Potts when she shows up at his house in it) nightclub singer Katherine "Sugar Puss" O'Shea (Barbara Stanwyck). He is taken in by O'Shea's gusty performance of "Drum Boogie", (accompanied by a famous drummer of the times, Gene Krupa, who reminds me onstage a bit of "The Who" drummer Keith Moon), and her lively banter, and asks her to help him with his slang research. She takes him up on his invitation very abruptly by showing up at his home that same night, claiming to be arriving to help, when in fact she's trying to hide. The resulting storyline is predictable, fast-paced, extremely well-written, thoroughly dated, and filled with 1940's slang...in other words, to anyone who is a fan of this genre...completely captivating and charming. With this in mind, and taken as a movie of the times, it's a comedic gem. Gary Cooper (my all-time personal favorite actor) is absolutely sexy here, believe it or not, and Barbara Stanwyck is perfect as the title's sassy little "Ball Of Fire", with her brash, streetwise exterior but ultimately soft heart, climbing onto a stack of books to reach the 6'4" Potts so she can show him the meaning of "yum-yum". Also, the above-mentioned dress she first wears, which is featured in most of the ads for the film is amazing; it's something Bob Mackie might have designed for Cher, and she looks gorgeous in it. The outstanding supporting parts are interesting, clever, and except for the gangster parts, individually well-fleshed. Veteran character actors such as Oskar Homolka (the servant in "Mr. Sardonicus") and Henry Travers (the angel in "It's Wonderful Life") help lend charm to the story. Dana Andrews ("Laura") and Dan Duryea ("The Little Foxes"), are effective, if somewhat wasted, in small parts as typical sterotypical 1940's mobsters. You'd have to enjoy these kind of old screwball, dated comedies of the '40's to love this one...and I do. Side note: the roles of the seven professors (excluding Cooper's) were inspired by Disney's dwarfs from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs".

Ball Of Fire has always been one of my very favorite Screwball Comedies, and it is wonderful to see it finally on sale for a quite affordable price. It is actually a delightful twist on Walt Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". Gary Cooper plays professor Bertram Potts, who is one of seven other scholars who are writing a new, updated encyclopedia. When the group realizes that there is a whole other universe of terms known as "slang", which they are not familiar with, they decide to visit a bawdry nightclub. It is there where Bertram meets Sugarpuss O'Shea, played by a very alluring Barbara Stanwyck, who is actually a burlesque queen who opens his eyes and mind to a whole other world. Unfortunately, Sugarpuss just happens to be the girlfriend of a gangster played by Dana Andrews who is on the lam from the law. Once Cooper and Stanwyck spend some quality time together, as she schools him about the hip terms and styles of "slang', it is not very long before sparks fly between the two, and they fall in love with each other. The group of professors decide to keep Sugarpuss in hiding from both the law, as well as from her mobster boyfriend Andrews. As one could well imagine, this scenario plays out to a somewhat complicated but truly hilarious result. The film was nominated for 4 Academy Awards, and includes an excellent screenplay written by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, snappy direction provided by Howard Hawks, and excellent performances by all supporting players. Stanwyck has never looked sexier, and Cooper displays his usual high quality of acting, especially impressive as he transforms from a rather stuffy professor, to a hip swinger, in order to keep up with Sugarpuss, as well as away from the mob. The film is 111 minutes long, in black and white, and the transfer to dvd is very good to excellent! As I previously mentioned, this baby is Screwball Heaven! MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! SMRZ!

A lighthearted, funny old movie. Gary Cooper does surprisingly well in a role monopolized by Cary Grant in numerous other movies. Barbara Stanwick was able to play any role well. Watching her here, it's difficult to imagine this is the same actress who shined as Phyllis D. in Double Indemnity. I cannot think of another actress who performed so well in such as wide variety of roles. Throw into the mix some very eccentric supporting characters, and you have an entertaining movie. On the downside: 1. The movie seemed to run a little long. The pace was not as strong as the best of other screwball comedies. 2. The climactic scene (the burning cord) was far too drawn out. By the time the villains were captured, any tension in the scene had long since dissipated. How's many close-ups of a smoldering cord do we need?

Lots of movie-goers think of Gary Cooper as a cowboy, or as a mild-mannered civilian who resists war, like Alvin York, who realized the depth of his courage in a battle that threatened the lives of his buddies. Few people think of Cooper as a comedian, but this film will prove his grasp of humor, humility, naivete and wit in a manner that is on a par with Cary Grant and James Stewart, for example. Cooper portrays a young college professor who joins several colleagues in developing a compendium of modern words, many of which he has never heard before, and some of which are uttered by a stunning, streetwise woman (Stanwyck). We're all familiar with the range of Barbara Stanwyck's acting skills, so her superior performance in "Ball of Fire" won't necessarily come as a surprise. She gives her heart and soul to this role as a nightclub dancer/singer who happens to be the girlfriend of a tough mobster, played with vigor by Dana Andrews. The way the story comes together is a joy to behold. I've seen the movie enough times on TCM to know that it wears well and gets better each time I see it, like a piece of fine art. Who would have put Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck in a romantic comedy that, in my opinion, is a classic without peer? That's why I decided to add the DVD to my film library. It is a ball of fire for sure, and a breath of fresh air. Highly recommended.

Here's one of the best, most enjoyable comedies of the early 1940s, one that served as a launching point for the career of Billy Wilder. Gary Cooper is the youngest of seven secluded scholars busily working on an encyclopedia, so immersed in their work that they've lost touch with the everyday world. When Cooper's earnest & oh-so-very-serious Professor Potts decides to get out & bring the entry on slang up to date, he has no idea that he's about to become entangled with Barbara Stanwyck's brassy, sexy showgirl & part-time gangster's moll Sugarpuss O'Shea. From there, the torrent of screwball chaos starts & never slows down until the end. The other six professors are played by members of Hollywood's superb stable of character actors, faces you'll recognize from countless films & TV shows of the 1950s & 1960s. Never were there more endearing characters -- brilliant, befuddled, but in a pinch, a lot more worldly-wise than the gangsters they confront would believe possible. Dana Andrews is perfect as Sugarpuss's ruthless intended, and Dan Duryea makes a wonderfully snarky lieutenant, filled with scorn & contempt for education & the educated -- but both men get what's coming to them, winding up in a poetically appropriate vehicle for their trip to the slammer. The romantic scenes with Cooper & Stanwyck are great -- she's stringing him along like the prize chump of all time, until she gives him a practical demonstration of "yum-yum" & realizes that there's a lot more to him than she had suspected. And Cooper plays the innocent but quick-to-learn professor with just the right note. Add to that an early scene with drummer Gene Krupa absolutely on fire (in more ways than one) in a terrific nightclub performance, and you can't go wrong. Forever re-watchable & most highly recommended!

The year 1941 should have held very fond memories for both Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper. Each had three good to excellent films open that year that showed off their acting skills both comic and dramatic to maximum advantage. Stanwyck shone in Preston Sturges' scintillating "The Lady Eve"(excellent), Gary Cooper starred in "Sergeant York" for which he won his first Best Actor Oscar. Then there were the two films in which they both co-starred: Frank Capra's social drama "Meet John Doe"(good) and finally this one, the romantic comedy "Ball of Fire"(near excellent). One of the best screenwriting teams in the Golden Age of Hollywood, Charles Brackett and Bill Wilder penned the original screenplay, a very savvy 20th century update of the classic fairy tale "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". Stanwyck's Snow White is called Sugarpuss O'Shea, her Prince Charming, gangling Professor Bertram Potts, Cooper of course, and the Seven Dwarfs are seven elderly professors of slight stature. The eight professors, all bachelors, live together in Manhattan in a house owned by the Daniel S. Totten Foundation for which they are working on compiling an encyclopedia. They are totally immersed in their work, and as such lead very sheltered, insular lives sternly kept in line by their tyrant of a housekeeper Miss Bragg (Kathleen Howard). When Potts discovers his current topic, American slang woefully outdated he ventures out into the city to do research. At day's end he finds himself at a nightclub where the star attraction is a sizzling singer called Sugarpuss O'Shea. Intrigued by her snappy line of patter, Potts goes backstage to try to enlist her participation in a slang workshop. She turns him down flat, but he leaves her his card in case she changes her mind. Sugarpuss shortly does, when she finds out the police are after her as a material witness against her gangster boyfriend Joe Lilac (Dana Andrews). She needs a hideout, finds Potts card, and next thing you know she's moved in pretending she's enthusiastic in helping him learn the latest slang. Just as Snow White's living with the Seven Dwarfs changes their lives for the better, so does Sugarpuss' influence bring the eight professors back into the vital real world. However Sugarpuss' character also changes positively, she becomes less hard-boiled, her finer side begins to emerge as she begins to be fond of them all. Bertram's long dormant hormones awake with a vengeance; despite herself Sugarpuss is touched by his gentle naïveté and starts to be attracted to him. Except, what of Joe Lilac who wants to marry her so as his wife she can't testify against him, and his two goons that are keeping tabs on her? Some previous reviews have called the film dated because of the outmoded slang. I disagree, it's a snapshot of it's time, the USA in the early 1940's, and the initial motivation of the plot is that Professor Potts finds out how quickly the slang can become outdated. Also with texting and all the acronyms such as "OMG" and "LOL" going on these days, it's very pertinent. Quite fun to listen to American slang circa 1941, several of the terms are very quaint and picturesque such as: "smackeroo", "clip the mooch", "shove in your clutch", and my personal favorite "bop the apple" (hit the baseball). And, calling the feet "dogs" then is no more ludicrous than the current slang term "junk" used to label a guy's genitals! Barbara Stanwyck has been grouped as one of the three "strong woman" actresses in films of the 1930's and 1940's, along with Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, and both have unjustly overshadowed her. She's an infinitely better actress than Crawford, and never chews the scenery as much as Davis can at her worst. Sugarpuss O'Shea the slick, hard as nails singer who winds up redeemed by love, is one of her most vibrant, delightful portrayals. The shift in her character is beautifully subtle, very delicately handled by Stanwyck, and always believable, with the additional bonus of her being provocatively alluring as well! This role landed her a second Best Actress nomination, probably in addition to her gorgeous dual performance in "The Lady Eve" that same year, but in yet another Oscar injustice she lost the prize! This is one of Gary Cooper's funnier characterizations, he's quite inspired as the reserved, self contained Professor Bertram Potts, whose exposure to the "ball of fire" known as "Sugarpuss" results in his own dimly lit pilot light to start burning brightly. His frenzied bolting up the stairs after Sugarpuss has given him his first yum-yum, to dash cold water on his neck is a great piece of physical comedy, as is his spastic loose limbed fight with Joe Lilac near the end of the film. He masters a marvelous double take when Sugarpuss removes her fur coat the night she arrives at the foundation to reveal her scanty costume showcasing her fabulous legs. Also his goofily dreamy expression tinged with lust after Sugarpuss and he have had a little yum- yum is priceless. Yet he doesn't make the professor a buffoon and gives him a simple dignity that is very appealing, and makes it apparent why he is able to melt Sugarpuss' heart. All of the seven professors give marvelous supporting performances, especially the superb character actors Henry Travers, S.Z Sakall, Oscar Homolka and Richard Haydn. In an early role, future star Dana Andrews is both smirking and menacing as Joe Lilac and Dan Duryea and Ralph Peters as his two thugs make perfect oafs, smug and stupid at the same time. A special nod of appreciation to Gene Krupa and his orchestra who perform the catchy "Drum Boogie" with Stanwyck. And last but no means least, director Howard Hawks, who developed the "Hawks woman" in film, the bright, attractive, self assured woman who was man's equal and insisted on it, such as Katharine Hepburn in "Bringing Up Baby", Jean Arthur in "Only Angels Have Wings", Rosalind Russell in "His Girl Friday" and Lauren Bacall in "To Have and Have Not". This was a trailblazing new woman in film, and Sugarpuss is one of the best examples.

Imagine a modern-day telling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by plugging in a band of wacky intellects learning slang from a lively stripper who’s on the run from her gangster boyfriend. Unbelievable? Certainly not to the once-in-a-lifetime talents from the Golden Age of Hollywood that brought it to the screen. Ball of Fire rises to the top of the 1940s screwball comedy genre because of an ingenious plot penned by the brilliant writing team of Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder and the delightful fusion resulting from the boyish charm of Gary Cooper and sizzling vitality of Barbara Stanwyck. Stanwyck glows in this sparkling gem as bawdy nightclub entertainer Sugarpuss O’Shea. In “Drum Boogie,” her opening nightclub number, Stanwyck displays amazing vibrancy and delicious effervescence. She was an Oscar nominee for Best Actress of 1941 for this performance, and she should’ve won out over Joan Fontaine, the winner for Suspicion. Stanwyck also had two other huge successes that year, with The Lady Eve and Meet John Doe, making her Oscar loss even more perplexing. This DVD of Ball of Fire has all you’ll ever want – great sound, superior picture quality, a hilarious yet romantic story, top-notch screen stars and a bevy of memorable character actors. It makes going to the movies right in your own home an experience that’s bound to delight any fan of Old Hollywood.