Customer Reviews

Ball of Fire

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For me, the highlight of this terrific comedy is the perfect performance by Barbara Stanwyck. Although not a conventional beauty by Hollywood standards, she is very sexy and funny as nightclub singer Sugarpuss O'Shea, who ends up hiding out with eight stuffy professors writing up a new encyclopaedia. She needs to hide to protect her crook boyfriend Dana Andrews, and the professors want her there because she can explain to them the meanings behind modern slang, since the professors are anything but hip and modern. Gary Cooper plays the professor responsible for the language sections of the encyclopaedia, and he quickly falls in love with her. Of course, numerous complications arise. Stanwyck, one of classic film's most versatile actresses, is terrific, and all of the professors (including Cooper) deliver warm, affectionate performances. The scene where Stanwyck gets them dancing is hilarious. This is classic comedy has been somewhat overlooked, but don't miss a chance to watch it.

For anyone who only associates Barbara Stanwyck with television's "The Big Valley" series, this movie should provide some good insight into just how talented this actress was. Barbara Stanwyck was a top star during the forties, and her versatility was amazing. "Ball of Fire" showcases her marvelous comedic talents. It also gives viewers a glimpse of just how wonderful these "old" movies really are. Gary Cooper and Stanwyck had a great on-screen chemistry. But the most surprising thing is how sexy Barbara Stanwyck was on that screen. She was positively luminous. See this movie and judge for yourself. Today's movies are positively sordid by comparison.

Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper are perfectly cast as Sugarpuss O'Shea and Professor Bertram Potts. Potts and seven other erudite, academically entrenched professors are creating a new encyclopedia. Their residence is the perfect hiding place for Sugarpuss, when her gangster boy friend (played by Dana Andrews) forces her to go on the lam in order to avoid a subpoena. Using subterfuge and feminine wiles, she easily convinces the professors to let her stay with them. Her pretence being that linguist Potts will benefit from her expertise with modern (1941) slang. After a lifetime of academic isolation, Potts is attracted by her worldly sophistication and insouciance. This attraction rapidly turns into love, and this feeling becomes mutual. "Ball of Fire" is an exceptional movie. Let's not spoil it by revealing too much. If you haven't seen "Ball of Fire", it's well worth seeing. It's so outstanding that one viewing is not enough.

When Gary Cooper (!) and the other scholars at work on the next issue of the encyclopedia realize that they need a consultant about slang, they are lucky enough to encounter showgirl Barbara Stanwyck, who tells them "all" about it. She's not on the level, though, and is playing Gary and the old boys for a bunch of patsies as she's on the lam. However, the power of love is a strange thing, and can even reform a slangy showgirl like Barbara. Cute movie, with very campy naive performance from Cooper.

A gangster's moll (Barbara Stanwyck) gets involved with eight stodgy professors who are writing an encyclopedia, and plenty of funny complications ensue. The professors are seven old guys and Gary Cooper. (Guess which one winds up with Barbara.) Seven of Hollywood's finest old character actors turn in excellent performances as the others. One of the best Forties screwball comedies. Not to be missed!

Ball of Fire is one of the most entertaining and enjoyable movies from producer Samuel Goldwyn. The story of a group of professors writing an encyclopedia and unwittingly hiding a gangster's moll (Barbara Stanwyck) under their roof is truly hilarious. Gary Cooper is at once intrigued and attracted to Stanwyck because he is writing the encyclopedia entry on slang and she seems to be an expert on the subject. He convinces her, so he thinks, to help him in his research. Cooper as the young, handsome professor smitten with Stanwyck is at the peak of his star appeal. And what a wonderful group of character actors playing the older professors, the likes of which we will never see again: Henry Travers, Oscar Homolka, S.Z. Sakall, Richard Haydn, et al turning in wonderful performances. There are also comic gems from Dan Duryea and Dana Andrews as Stanwyck's gangster boyfriend. Andrews could have made a career out of playing tough guys based on his terrific characterization. Stanwyck's performance is right on target as the moll with a heart of gold. Her transformation from a hard, wise-cracking "broad" to a sweet good-natured young woman was deserving of the Oscar nomination she received for Best Actress of 1941. The musical remake, A Song Is Born, with Danny Kay and Virginia Mayo, just doesn't have the same zest and sense of fun that the original has. A rare slice of early 1940s Americana ( the slang expressions and interpretations are wonderful) and super entertainment to boot. You can't beat this one.

BALL OF FIRE is one of the classic screwball farces. With a wonderful script from Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, smart, spot-on direction from Howard Hawks, great B&W cinematography from Gregg Toland, elegant set design from William Cameron Menzies (wait'll you see the wonderful Manhattan town house!) BALL OF FIRE turns Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs on its head. Here, the seven dwarfs -- led by a terrific Gary Cooper -- are taught the ways of the world by Snow White -- an equally terrific Barbara Stanwyck. This is sheer, unadulterated fun, from beginning to end. Has any actor in the history of film had a year like Cooper had in 1941? Besides BALL OF FIRE, he also starred in two other critical and box office smashes -- Capra's very disturbing MEET JOHN DOE, and a second Hawks film, SERGEANT YORK, for which Cooper won his first Academy Award. Not bad for an actor whom some have claimed was wooden and only played himself! Buy this, most definitely.

This comic masterpiece must be one of the best kept secrets in film history. I had only vaguely heard of it, and what I'd heard of it was all negative. But the cast (Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck and Dana Andrews) and screenwriter (Billy Wilder) and director (Howard Hawks) intrigued me, I rented this DVD and was blown away. I immediately bought the DVD, which is crystal-clear. Gary Cooper is the unwordly egghead who becomes entangled with the very-worldly stripper Barbara Stanwyck. Dana Andrews is her gangster boy friend. Sparks fly between the three of them. It is fast, funny, and surprisingly warm for a Howard Hawks film. But then, so was the Cooper/Hawks Sergeant York warm, perhaps Cooper gave Hawks a level of warmth that other stars didn't. Whatever, don't miss this wonderful, wonderful screwball farce.

This movie is very funny. I enjoyed every minute of it. I even ignored my phone calls, because I was so interested in what happens next. If you haven't seen, "Ball of Fire", then please do. I guarantee a smash!

Directed by the brilliant Howard Hawks, BALL OF FIRE combines excellent acting, screenwriting and directing to produce a delightful comedy (Hawks even directed the glossy Technicolor remake A SONG IS BORN in 1948; he didn't much care for it) The biggest delight of this film is the performance of Barbara Stanwyck as Sugarpuss O'Shea, the worldly wise nightclub singer who easily manipulates the scholars but does not realize that she is falling in love. Although she is appropriately flippant and cynical in her early dealings with Potts and other scholars, she also makes the romantic scenes near the end of the film very moving. The DVD is astonishingly clear and this movie is highly recommended!