Ball of Fire

Overview

Ball of Fire is a delightful retelling (by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett) of the "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" legend -- though strictly for grownups. Gary Cooper is the youngest of eight bookish professors authoring an encyclopedia. They find a perfect "research associate" in the curvaceous form of stripteaser Barbara Stanwyck, who (chastely) hides on the professors' domicile to escape her gangster boyfriend (Dana Andrews). As Stanwyck interprets various slang expression, she and the professors grow quite fond of one another; she brings out their sentimental sides, while they revive her essential decency. Naturally, Cooper is the one most smitten, though he hides his true feelings until the inevitable clinch. When gangster Andrews and his torpedo Dan Duryea show up to claim Stanwyck (Andrews wants to marry her so she can't testify against him), the professors save the day and it is Cooper who ends up with the beautiful Stanwyck. For the record, two of the "ancient" professors are Richard Haydn and O.Z. Whitehead, still in their mid-thirties (the others are S.Z. Sakall, Tully Marshall, Oscar Homolka, Leonid Kinskey and Aubrey Mather). Producer Sam Goldwyn later remade Ball of Fire as a Danny Kaye musical, A Song is Born (1948).

Product Details

Release Date:	07/15/2014
UPC:	0883929405138
Original Release:	1941
Rating:	NR
Source:	Warner Home Video
Language:	English
Time:	1:51:00
Sales rank:	822

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Gary Cooper	Prof. Bertram Potts
Barbara Stanwyck	Sugarpuss O'Shea
Oscar Homolka	Prof. Gurkakoff
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
Mary Field	Miss Totten
Ralph Peters	Asthma Anderson
Kathleen Howard	Miss Bragg
Charles Lane	Larson
Charles Arnt	McNeary
Elisha Cook Jr.	Waiter
Al Rhein	Horseface
Geraldine	Fissette
Eddie Foster	Pinstripe
Will Lee	Benny
Aldrich Bowker	Justice of the Peace
Addison Richards	District Attorney
Kenneth Howell	College Boy,College Boy
Tommy Ryan	Newsboy,Motor Cop
Pat West	Bum
Ed Mundy	Spieler
June Horne	Nursemaid at Park
Geraldine Fissette	Hula Dancer
Ethelreda Leopold	Nursemaid at Park
George Barton	Garbage Man
Otto Hoffman	Stage Doorman
Walter Shumway	Garbage Man
Doria Caron	Girl in Subway
Merrilee Lannon	Girl in Subway
Catherine Henderson	College Girl
Helen Seamon	College Girl
Jack Perry	Fighting Bum
Mildred Morris	Chorus Girl,Justice of the Peace's Clerk
Gerald Pierce	Delivery Boy
Francis Sayles	Taxi Driver
Lorraine Miller	Girl in Cafe
Chet DeVito	Tollkeeper
Pat Flaherty	Deputy
George Sherwood	Deputy
Lee Phelps	Policeman in Station
Ken Christy	Cop With Miss Bragg
Del Lawrence	Irish Gardener
Eddy Chandler	Cop on Garbage Truck
Dick Rush	Policeman at Motor Inn
Edward Clark	Motor Court Proprietor
Gene Krupa	Orchestra Leader

Technical Credits

Charles Brackett

Billy Wilder

Howard Hawks	Director
Charles Brackett	Screenwriter
Billy Wilder	Screenwriter
Samuel Goldwyn	Producer

Editorial Reviews

This broad, farcical burlesque on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs features Barbara Stanwyck (in a part originally considered for Ginger Rogers) as a stripper who hides out with a group of professors when she's being chased by gangsters. The professors are compiling a dictionary, and she helps them with slang and other matters. Gary Cooper as a dorky professor is something of a stretch, but the entire movie specializes in absurdity. This slapstick comedy was co-written by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, based on a story that Wilder had co-written much earlier, in Germany. Producer Samuel Goldwyn wanted Wilder to do the screenplay, a request that set off a fascinating sequence of events. Wilder and his writing partner Charles Brackett were under contract to Paramount Pictures, and when he requested to borrow them, the studio replied that they didn't loan out writers, only actors and occasionally directors. Samuel Goldwyn, however, had Gary Cooper under contract, and Paramount had been trying to come up with a leading man for its planned adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's book For Whom The Bell Tolls; Cooper seemed perfect for the role. A deal was worked out by which Goldwyn got the services of Wilder and Brackett, and Paramount got Gary Cooper. Ball of Fire, directed by Howard Hawks, turned out to be a huge box-office and critical hit, garnering three Oscar nominations, including one for Wilder. A year later, he began his Hollywood directorial career, in which he would gain fame for such witty comedies as Some Like It Hot. Hawks was only at the midpoint of a directorial career that ran from 1926 to 1970.

All Movie Guide - Bruce Eder