Ball of Fire

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For other uses, see Ball of Fire (disambiguation).
Ball of Fire

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Howard Hawks
Produced by Samuel Goldwyn
Written by Charles Brackett
Billy Wilder
Starring Gary Cooper
Barbara Stanwyck
Music by Alfred Newman
Cinematography Gregg Toland
Editing by Daniel Mandell
Studio Samuel Goldwyn Productions
Distributed by RKO Radio Pictures
Release date(s) December 2, 1941 United States
Running time 111 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Ball of Fire (also known as The Professor and the Burlesque Queen) is a 1941 American romantic comedy film directed by Howard Hawks, and starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck. The RKO Pictures film is about a group of professors laboring to write an encyclopedia and their encounter with a nightclub performer who provides her own unique knowledge. The supporting cast includes Oskar Homolka, S. Z. Sakall, Henry Travers, Richard Haydn, Dana Andrews, and Dan Duryea. In 1948, the plot was resurrected as a musical film, A Song Is Born, starring Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo.

Contents

[edit] Plot

A group of professors have been lived together for years in a New York City residence, compiling an encyclopedia of all human knowledge. The youngest, Professor Bertram Potts (Gary Cooper), is a scholar of philology who is researching modern American slang. The professors are accustomed to working in relative seclusion at a leisurely pace with a prim housekeeper named Miss Bragg (Kathleen Howard) keeping tabs on them. Their impatient financial backer Miss Totten (Mary Field) suddenly demands that they finish their work soon.

Venturing out to do some independent research, Bertram becomes interested in the slang vocabulary of saucy nightclub performer "Sugarpuss" O'Shea (Barbara Stanwyck). She is reluctant to assist him in his research until she needs a place to hide from the police, who want to question her about her boyfriend, mob boss Joe Lilac (Dana Andrews). Sugarpuss takes refuge in the house where the professors live and work, despite Bertram's objections.

The professors soon become enamored of her insouciance, and she begins to grow fond of them. She teaches them to conga and demonstrates to Bertram the meaning of the phrase "yum yum" (kisses). She becomes attracted to Bertram, who reciprocates with a vengeance by proposing marriage to her. She accepts, but before they can do anything, she is taken away by Lilac's henchmen. Lilac also wants to marry her, but only so she cannot testify against him.

The professors eventually outwit Lilac and his henchmen and rescue Sugarpuss. She decides she is not good enough for Bertram, but his forceful application of "yum yum" convinces her to change her mind.

[edit] Cast

Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper

[edit] Music

Martha Tilton provided Barbara Stanwyck's singing voice for the song "Drum Boogie".[1] Drummer and bandleader Gene Krupa performed the song with his band. In an unusual twist, he also played it on a matchbox with matches for drumsticks. Krupa band member and famed trumpeter Roy Eldridge received a brief on-camera spell during "Drum Boogie".

[edit] Production

The script was written by Charles Brackett, Thomas Monroe, and Billy Wilder from a short story written by Wilder while he was still in Europe, and based in part on the fairy tale Snow White. The professors themselves were based on the dwarfs from Walt Disney's animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Although Ball of Fire was directed ably by Howard Hawks, Wilder had already decided that he needed to direct his screenplays to protect them from studio and other director's interference. Hawks was happy to let Wilder study his directing on the set and Wilder thereafter directed his own films. The film was the second feature of 1941 to pair Cooper and Stanwyck, following Meet John Doe.

Wilder reveled in poking fun at those who took politics too seriously. At one point, "Sugarpuss" points to her sore throat and complains "Slight rosiness? It's as red as the Daily Worker and just as sore." Later, she gives the overbearing and unsmiling housekeeper the name "Franco".

Ginger Rogers and Carole Lombard turned down the role of Katherine "Sugarpuss" O'Shea, while Lucille Ball almost won the role until Gary Cooper recommended Stanwyck.[2][3]

[edit] Awards and honors

Ball of Fire was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Barbara Stanwyck), Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture, Best Sound, Recording (Thomas T. Moulton) and Best Story.[4]

In World War II, a total of 12 servicemen were pen-pals with Stanwyck; two of them asked for a poster of her in the Ball of Fire outfit for their mess hall.[5]

American Film Institute Lists

In a 1999 AFI poll, stars Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck were both ranked #11 on the male and female lists of the greatest American screen legends.

It currently holds a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes with 24 reviews.[6]

[edit] References

Notes
  1. ^ Smith 1985, p. 93.
  2. ^ Wayne 2009, p. 106.
  3. ^ Thomson 2010, p. 80.
  4. ^ "The 14th Academy Awards (1942) Nominees and Winners." oscars.org. Retrieved: November 17, 2011.
  5. ^ Madsen 1994, p. 216.
  6. ^ "Ball of Fire." Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved: November 17, 2011.
Bibliography
  • Madsen, Axel. Stanwyck: A Biography. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. ISBN 0-06017-997-X.
  • Smith, Ella. Starring Miss Barbara Stanwyck. New York: Random House, 1985. ISBN 978-0517556955.
  • Thomson, David. Gary Cooper (Great Stars). New York: Faber & Faber, 2010. ISBN 978-0865479326.
  • Wayne, Jane. Life and Loves of Barbara Stanwyck. London: JR Books Ltd, 2009. ISBN 978-1906217945.

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Ball of Fire
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ball of Fire


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