Ball of Fire (1941)

A group of professors working on a new encyclopedia encounter a mouthy nightclub singer who is wanted by the police to help bring down her mob boss lover.

Director:

Howard Hawks

Writers:

Charles Brackett (screen play), Billy Wilder (screen play)

Stars:

Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Oskar Homolka

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gary Cooper	...	Prof. Bertram Potts
Barbara Stanwyck	...	Sugarpuss O'Shea
Oskar Homolka	...	Prof. Gurkakoff (as Oscar Homolka)
Henry Travers	...	Prof. Jerome
S.Z. Sakall	...	Prof. Magenbruch
Tully Marshall	...	Prof. Robinson
Leonid Kinskey	...	Prof. Quintana
Richard Haydn	...	Prof. Oddly
Aubrey Mather	...	Prof. Peagram
Allen Jenkins	...	Garbage Man
Dana Andrews	...	Joe Lilac
Dan Duryea	...	Duke Pastrami
Ralph Peters	...	Asthma Anderson
Kathleen Howard	...	Miss Bragg
Mary Field	...	Miss Totten

Storyline

Sexy, wisecracking nightclub singer Sugarpuss O'Shea is a hot tomato who needs to be kept on ice: mobster boyfriend Joe Lilac is suspected of murder and Sugarpuss' testimony could put him away. Naive Professor Bertram Potts meets Miss O'Shea while researching an article on slang and in true romantic comedy fashion the two worlds collide. When Miss O'Shea hides out with Potts and his fellow professors, everyone learns something new: the professors how to cha-cha and Potts the meaning of "yum-yum"!

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Plot Keywords:

national film registry | deception | screwball comedy | professor | slang | 

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Taglines:

The New Year's red-hot comedy!

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 January 1942 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Professor and the Burlesque Queen

Filming Locations:

Samuel Goldwyn Studios - 7200 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Samuel Goldwyn Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Rosemary La Planche, Miss America of 1941, reportedly was signed for a role, but her appearance in the completed film has not been confirmed.

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Goofs

In the car fleeing the nightclub: Sugarpuss O'Shea holds up Professor Potts's calling card to read it. Then the camera angle goes to a close-up of the card, with her fingers holding it around the four corners of the card, but the position of the fingers in the close-up shot do not at all match the way she is holding the card in the previous "long" shot.

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Quotes

Joe Lilac: You know, I was kinda counting on Sugarpuss to tell ya the score. Trouble is, she's all right givin' out with the twists and the wisecracks, but when it comes to leveling off she gets chicken.

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits prologue: Once upon a time - in 1941 to be exact - there lived in a great, tall forest - called New York - eight men who were writing an encyclopedia.

They were so wise they knew everything: the depth of the oceans, and what makes a glowworm glow, and what tune Nero fiddles while Rome was burning.

But there was one thing about which they knew very little - as you will see . . .

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Connections

Featured in TCM Guest Programmer: Robert Wagner (2006)

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Soundtracks

Drum Boogie
(1941) (uncredited)
(Published as "Drumboogie")
Music and Lyrics by Roy Eldridge and Gene Krupa
Performed by Gene Krupa and His Orchestra
Sung by Barbara Stanwyck (dubbed by Martha Tilton)
Reprised by her and audience members

User Reviews

Stanwyck wakes up a bunch of geniuses...and one in particular

Barbara Stanwyck plays a wise-cracking entertainer who moves in with 8 professorial types in "Ball of Fire," a marvelous Billy Wilder film, directed by Howard Hawks, that is loosely based on Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs! Only Wilder could come up with an idea like this and make it shine.

And shine it does. Stanwyck is perfect as Sugarpuss O'Shea, whose boyfriend is a mobster sought after by the police. After a visit by Cooper, whose assignment is slang for the encyclopedia he and the others have been writing for only nine years, she drops in on him late at night, intending to hide out there so the police can't subpoena her testimony. Cooper falls for her while the other, older men develop paternalistic feelings for her.

Stanwyck is gorgeous and gets to show off that fabulous body and great legs as well as her flair for comedy. She's in stark contrast to Cooper as a man who's been in his ivory tower too long. Cooper was one of the handsomest movie stars ever. Tall and gangly, slow-talking, with a boyish smile that lights up his face, it's no wonder the heiress funding the encyclopedia is crazy about him and that Stanwyck finds herself drifting into love with him.

Dana Andrews has a good role as the mobster boyfriend, and one of his sidekicks is the always snarky Dan Duryea. The professors are all terrific. Highly entertaining fare from Billy Wilder, and the last film he ever wrote but didn't direct.