Ball of Fire Reviews

• Worth the wait.....

  
  By A1L3JKXFHGJ9TS on 2003-04-30
  I never had the opportunity to watch this classic film, neither on tv, nor on vhs format....Having watched so many times Capra's "Meet John Doe", also starring Cooper and Stanwyck, which I love....I had always wanted to see this second and last pairing of this wonderful screen couple.

  When I bought my dvd player, three years ago, this one was of the first movies I wanted to buy....but when I tried to, the dvd edition was already out of stock or out of print....and sadly for us, this HBO 1998 dvd edition, is being sold at very high prices at Internet Stores. So... I had lost all hopes when I had the luck of finding it at a very convenient price in an unknown small store in Raleigh, North Carolina, while on vacation there.

  This wonderful, classic comedy...deserved the long wait....'cos Stanwyck is really fantastic as cabaret stripper and singer Sugarpuss O'Shea, at first using Gary Cooper for her own selfish purposes, but in the process (not unexpectedly), falling for his naive, clumsy Professor Potts ("Pottsy" for her).

  By the way, professor Potts works on an encyclopedia project with seven fellow experts, on different areas of knowledge, all of them bachelors or widowers, living by themselves in a big house...with the only female presence of the elderly housekeeper, Miss Bragg (played by Kathleen Howard), who doesn't live there (she wouldn't dare to!!).

  While researching more information on current slang (for their encyclopedia project), Cooper meets Stanwyck at a nightclub, where she sings with legendary Gene Krupa! (nothing less!!) immediately trying to persuade her to meet him at his home (with other fellow "users" of slang: the garbage man, the newspaper boy et al), in order to try get all of the existing slang words into the encyclopedia.

  His seven fellow -much older than Cooper- co-workers and professors, are sort of like the seven dwarfs kind of characters, trying to play matchmaker between sexy-woman-of-the world Sugarpuss O'Shea and reluctant, prudish Professor Bertram Potts. Some of them are played by the best of character actors: Richard Haydn (his debut on screen), S.Z. Sakall, Henry Travers, Oscar Homolka, Tully Marshal, et al.

  Also, noteworthy performances by Dana Andrews (as Stanwyck's underworld boyfriend) and Dan Duryea, as one of his "boys".

  Hilarious scenes, very funny moments and witty dialogue, thanks to a great script by the Charles Brackett-Billy Wilder team, and Howard Hawks' deft direction.

  The dvd edition is good, pretty crisp and sharp...featuring the original mono audio and a remastered-stereophonic one.

  1941 was an excellent year for both actors, besides this one and "Meet John Doe", Stanwyck starred in the very, very funny Preston Sturges' movie "The Lady Eve", with Henry Fonda, and Cooper starred in Hawks' "Sergeant York", and Oscar winning role.

  This one was remade in 1948 by Hawks, as "A Song is Born" with Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo, a funny movie, but not up to the original.
  
  

• A magical retelling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

  
  By A16QODENBJVUI1 on 2005-08-09
  This retelling of the SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS was actually based on a script that Billy Wilder wrote before immigrating to the United States from Germany, but it was only after the success of the Disney version that a demand was created for it. The enormously versatile Howard Hawks (quite literally the most versatile director in film history, the only director to have mastered and/or created five or six genres) took the script and turned it into one of the last great pre-WW II comedies. The story is simple: a group of monkish scholars living together in New York City are writing an encyclopedia. One of them is writing about slang, but being unfamiliar with contemporary argot begins research his topic by talking to people outside his normal range of acquaintance. He runs into gangster moll Sugarpuss O'Shea, who takes advantage of the scholars to move in with them in order to escape the police, who want to talk to her to implicate her guy Joe Lilac. While hardly Snow White, she certainly managed to stir up their lives.
  
  The film is made wonderful by a number of things: Wilder's clever script, Hawks typically deft direction, a solid performance by Gary Cooper, but most of all by a scintillating job by the overwhelmingly alluring Barbara Stanwyck and a stellar collection of veteran character actors playing the seven dwarves. All the latter are great, but special mention has to be made of Richard Haydn (who excells even beside the others, with his extraordinary overpronounciation of everyday words), Oskar Homolka, and S.Z. Sakall. There are few more delightful collections of character actors in any Hollywood comedy. I personally prefer Barbara Stanwyck to any other actress in Hollywood history. She possessed an emotional immediacy that no other actress could approximate, and while her skills were perhaps a tad below those of someone like Katherine Hepburn, the latter never managed to match her fire and passion. And she is so sexy! I grew up watching Stanwyck on THE BIG VALLEY, so when I first started seeing her great roles from the thirties, forties, and fifties, I was absolutely stunned at how sexy she could be. She was attractive, yes, but sexier than she was attractive. And she was never sexier than she was here, with the exception of her role the same year in THE LADY EVE.
  
  Another reason to see this film is the appearance of Gene Krupa in the early nightclub sequence. Krupa had, of course, been with Benny Goodman throughout the thirties, so this was very early in his career as leader of his own band.
  
  

• "Here's yum...here's the other yum...and here's yum-yum!"

  
  By A3Y6GNHCOER58 on 2005-03-24
  "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".
  
  

• A Stanwyck masterpiece

  
  By A14F0JSBYZZ8JX on 2001-09-19
  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.
  
  

• This one's a keeper....

  
  By on 2000-03-06
  Why haven't we heard more about this comedy classic? Gary Cooper is one of eight super-brains writing an encyclopedia. Barbara Stanwyck is a definitely non-intellectual entertainer looking for a place to hide. With her sassy freshness, she captures the hearts of all the professors, particularly Cooper; then he - and they - capture hers. But her boyfriend, a local gangster, has some other ideas. This movie is first-class in every way - writing (Billy Wilder), directing (Howard Hawks), and an elite cast of 1940s stars. Any movie sixty years old is going to seem dated - all films should be regarded as period pieces - but that can be part of the fun of watching, especially as "Professor Cooper" investigates the ins and outs of the "slanguage" of the times. A couple of musical numbers accent the story, including a drum solo on a matchbox.... really! "Ball of Fire" was remade some years later as "A Song is Born," which loses some of the sparkle of its predecessor but gains some enjoyable jazz music; the two movies should be treated only as cousins. If you really enjoy the classic comedies, you should find this one worth your time.
  
  
• Cooper and Stanwyck in the classic screwball comedy
  By A2NJO6YE954DBH on 2001-08-05
  This classic screwball comedy offers a nice twist on the tale of Snow White, Prince Charming and the Seven Dwarves. Gary Cooper plays Professor Betram Potts, who is writing the definitive treatise on slang for an encyclopedia. Towards that end he elicits the help of burlesque stripper, Sugarpuss O'Shea, played by Barbara Stanwyck in her second Oscar-nominated role. Sugarpuss knows all about slang and moves in with the professor and the seven distinguished professors (Oscar Homolka, Henry Travers, Z. Z. Sakall, Tully Marshall, Leonind Kinskey, Richard Haydn and Aubrey Mather) helping Professor Potts with his research. Of Sugarpuss sets the stuffy household on its head, with the result that the professors are all totally smitten with her and the lady has to rethink marrying her gangster boyfriend (Dana Andrews) because she, of course, has fallen for Potts.

  This is a first rate screwball comedy and it is hard to believe that Cooper and Stanwyck had played opposite each other in Frank Capra's classic "Meet John Doe," since there is quite a difference between Capracorn and screwball comedy. For me, it is the seven dwarves, er, professors who steal the show with their ensemble responses to everything Sugarpuss says and does. Originally called "The Professor and the Burlesque Queen," Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder's Oscar nominated screenplay was based on an original story by Wilde and Thomas Monroe called "From A to Z." This 1941 film was directed by Howard Hawks, produced by Samuel Goldwyn, had Gregg Toland of "Citizen Kane" fame as the photographer and featured an Oscar nominated score by Alfred Newman. The song "Drum Boogie" was written by Gene Krupa and Roy Eldridge. Watch "Ball of Fire" as a double-bill with "Bringing Up Baby" and you can enjoy the two best screwball comedies ever made at one sitting.
  
  

• One of Stanwyck's Best
  By A1345VRK5MYG7 on 2000-07-02
  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.
  
  
• A Comic Masterpiece
  By A22N10FWR36LBO on 2000-03-25
  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.
  
  
• Sugarpuss and the Seven Dwarfs
  By A2TOU0N8XE68W4 on 2002-11-27
  Rollicking satire is what is dished out in this superb 1941 valentine to 40's jive and slang. Rarely have written words and actors to deliver them ever experienced a happier marriage than here as the wonderful Barbara Stanwyck adds another triumph (and another Oscar nomination to boot!) to her list as the jive talking, flashy show girl come mobster's gal Sugarpuss O'Shea. Playing opposite her is frequent co star Gary Cooper as the upright and very proper Prof Bertram Potts in the Billy Wilder written, Oscar nominated screw ball comedy hit "Ball Of Fire".

  Directed by veteran Howard Hawks this terrific screen confection is loosely based on the idea of Snow White and the Seven Dwarf's in its telling of a group of mostly elderly professors, led by the younger Cooper who have been hired to write a new encyclopedia containing all the up to date slang terms used in society. Into their tightly academic and isolated world waltzes the flashy woman of experience Sugarpuss O' Shea on the lam from the vice squad who needs a place to safely hide out in till the heat gets off her and her crooked fiance . In a delightful way she proceeds to turn the professors snug little world upside down with her gangster connections, sassy language loud music and free and easy manner with all of the professors who all become quite smitten with this rare bird who has flown into their nest.

  Barbara Stanwyck was born to play Sugarpuss and had already teamed beautifully with the lanky Gary Cooper in "Meet John Doe". Barbara was as expert in comedy as she was in the hard hitting dramas she is probably better known for. In "Ball Of Fire" she has the perfect screen teaming with Cooper contrasting her tart and breezy mobster's moll character with Cooper's sound and respectable academic with no experience of the opposite sex. Of special delight are Sugarpuss's wonderful exchanges with the elderly professors (expert character actors like Henry Travers, S.Z. Sakall and Tully Marshall among them in truly delightful performances).By employing her considerable feminine wiles and smart talk she manages to not only convince them to let her stay with them in the house but also dupes them into literally becoming her personal bodyguards when her fiance (Dana Andrews in an early performance) starts to cause her trouble. Prof. Potts finds himself attracted to her worldly manner and proposes marriage with a minisule diamond ring that pales beside the vulgar nuckle duster given to her by her mobster fiance. Sugarpuss also finds herself falling for the prim Professor's sincerity and what ensures is a mad race to the altar complete with interfering mobsters, machine guns and the professors taking on the mobsters at their own game.

  Under Hawk's breezy direction this madness all works beautifully and the film is unique in containing a very complete catalogue of all the early war time slang expressions which are a delight to listen to and are as fresh and funny today as they were back in the forties. Edith Head's designs for Stanwyck are wonderful as always and Cooper's shock at Barbara's gold lame show costume slit right up the sides in their first scene together is priceless.

  "Ball Of Fire' is fast, sexy and great fun all round with the stars at their absolute peak. I always laugh at Barbara's reactions to the stuffy professors, the gem being when S.K Sakall is stroking her hand repeatedly and Barbara simply states "Do you mind if I have that back?" Great stuff delivered with relish and it's evident that they were all having as much fun filming this piece as the audience has watching it. Simple and extremely innocent it indeed is but what's wrong with that? It easily beats many of todays so called attempts at a heart warming comedy. Enjoy Barbara and her beloved Coop at their best in "Ball Of Fire".
  
  

• STANWYCK'S GREATEST COMEDY! SHE COULD DO ANYTHING!!!
  By A2FL0EKQ2EQ9E6 on 2005-11-12
  One only needs to watch Ball of Fire to realize the depth of Barbara Stanwyck's incredible talent. I'd match her up against ANY ACTRESS of her era or any other era!! Here is a woman who can rip your heart out...even when she plays unlikeable characters because she always lets you see multi-dimensions of her characters. Sugarpuss O'Shea is a perfect example of a bad girl with a soft heart who succumbs to the love a naive, good-looking gentleman. But she also shows her love to the other professors. 1941 was Stanwyck's greatest Movie Year.....she made "Meet John DOe" and "The Lady Eve" in this year as well and she is excellent in all of them. Stanwyck is the ONLY ACTRESS I CAN THINK OF who CAN DO ANYTHING!! From drama to comedy, to musicals and of course westerns!! While Stanwyck's singing is not on a par with her other talents (her singing was dubbed in Ball of Fire) she can still do a musical song and dance as is evidenced in her 1937 film (THIS IS MY AFFAIR where she plays a vaudeville entertainer). Bette Davis could never play comedy and was too mannered with her rapid fire clipped speech and overacting. SHe couldn't sing or dance (as Barbara did in Ball of FIre, Lady of Burlesque, This is My Affair and Banjo on My Knee). Katharine Hepburn was a good actress but very unnerving also with her mannerisms, high patrician attitude and SHE COULD NEVER PLAY A PART IN A MUSICAL. SHE COULDN'T SING). Joan Crawford was a good actress in good movies but very few of her movies are good and she couldn't sing. Doris Day was brilliant in comedy, musicals and drama but she would never be believable as a villainess or a heavy. The same with Judy Garland. Rare is the talent who could do it all. I dare anyone to disagree with me that Stanwyck was the ONE who could do it all....Drama, Comedy, Westerns, Musicals!! Heroine or villainess! Stanwyck's work is always FIRST CLASS even when applied to material that is not. She was simply the greatest and I'm sorry this review has turned into a tribute to Stanwyck but she should have won the Oscar in 1941 for Ball of Fire when she proved that she was the greatest actress in that wonderful era of actresses!! The movie, Ball of Fire is great fun!! From beginning to end Stanwyck and Cooper are unbeatable!!! And the other professors are hilarious to watch as well!! There is also a marvelous musical score and the production values are top notch!
  
  
• Flawless Screwball Farce
  By A2X3WYPTH809FJ on 1999-10-20
  Ball Of Fire opened at Christmas, 1941, not the most propitious moment for a screwball farce to open. However, it was a huge hit, critically and financially. Since then, it has remained popular with moviegoers, but has suffered at the hands of the "auteurist" critics. It comes up short in the Howard Hawks pantheon because it doesn't deal with professionals. If one hasn't had his or her's critical faculties polluted by this idiotic school of criticism, you'll have a ball watching egghead Gary Cooper going up against nightclub stripper Barbara Stanwyck. It is classic screwball farce and it deserves to be mentioned with the great screwball farces of all time. You'll love this one!
  
  
• Burns the House Down!
  By A2F7XTL4KHDZME on 2000-08-15
  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.
  
  
• A thoroughly delightful comedy.
  By A1BG19L6SA12RS on 2001-06-11
  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!
  
  
• Who says scholarly reseach is cut and dried?
  By AD2BIAIH78QI5 on 2001-08-12
  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.
  
  
• She jives by night
  By AJDQ5EBQNDGLF on 2004-10-03
  I've been writing downbeat reviews lately, so I decided to write one about one of the five funniest movies ever. Just to answer the obvious question, the others are Monty Python's Meaning of Life, South Park:Bigger, Longer, Uncut, Seven Year Itch and The Bank Dick.
  
  The reason this one's so good is because of Howard Hawk's direction, a super sharp Wilder-Brackett script, Gary Cooper's innate comic timing (sadly under used in his career), Barbara Stanwyck's second best comic role of her career (The Lady Eve was a role to die for) and a boatload of wily character actors.
  
  The premise stems from eight professors spending several years writing an encyclopedia with the help of a willed grant that has them all living under the same roof of a NYC mansion. One day a garbageman (Allen Jenkins) enters their sheltered circle with some eye-opening questions and Prof.Potts (Cooper) realizes his three weeks of compiling slang is obsolete. He decides he must leave his austere surroundings to learn the language of the street. This decision is met with much apprehension by his seven older associates. He braves the street all day recruiting a wide array of slang-savvy consultants. He winds up in a night club featuring Gene Krupa and Sugarpuss O'Shea (Stanwyck).
  
  I think my favorite part of the movie is when Potts goes backstage to recruit Sugarpuss and she tries to give him the brush. Well, pretty soon we've got a wild mix of sex and academics and gangsters.
  
  It's sweet without being syrupy, it deals with mores without being sanctimonious. This is a neat trick that is very rarely achieved and makes this always funny movie better than the rest. Also, for me, it has the funniest ending ever.
  
  Boogie
  
  
• Delicious Screwball Farce
  By A2X3WYPTH809FJ on 2000-04-08
  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.
  
  
• Absolutely a 5 STAR movie..!!!
  By A2WD487DM2UDPE on 2007-02-18
  This is one of Hollywood's Classics..!! Stars Gary Cooper as Prof. Bertram Potts and Barbara Stanwyck as "Sugarpuss" O'Shea. The plot revolves around a group of professors who are trying to write an encyclopedia. Stanwyck is in trouble with "the Mob" and takes refuge with the professors. She and Cooper fall in love and the professors save the day and arrest the mob. Great fun and an all star cast. Nominated for 4 Academy Awards this is a Hollywood at it's very best.
  
  
• Overpriced for a bare-bones DVD
  By A1D74I7DDPC58Q on 2007-05-23
  Terrific film, but a $20 retail price for a DVD with absolutely no extra features? What is MGM thinking? No, thanks. This film deserves better.
  
  
• Stanwyck and Cooper light up the screen with shades of "Pygmalion" and "Snow White"
  By ABH4G7TVI6G2T on 2007-06-12
  A burlesque performer on the lam becomes the unexpected muse for a strait-laced professor in Billy Wilder's sparkling 1941 comedy, BALL OF FIRE.
  
  When a group of stuffy bachelor professors are compiling a new encyclopedia, they find trouble writing about modern slang. Professor Bertram Potts (Gary Cooper) scouts the streets of New York to find willing people to help in their research. A visit to a nightclub reveals Sugarpuss O'Shea (Barbara Stanwyck) performing the rousing "Drum Boogie". Potts realises that here is the ideal expert who can lead him through the difficult world of the modern speech. But Sugarpuss is being pursued by the police...and the Mob!
  
  Cooper and Stanwyck give off a splendid chemistry here after previously being paired in Frank Capra's Meet John Doe earlier in 1941. Legend has it that Lucille Ball was originally mentioned for the role of Sugarpuss, but it's hard to imagine anyone being better than Stanwyck, who gives a spirited performance (for another slice of Barbara in a similar role, be sure to see the hilarious Barbara Stanwyck: Lady of Burlesque).
  
  The other professors are played by legendary character actors S.Z. "Cuddles" Sakall, Richard Haydn, Oscar Homolka, Henry Travers, Tully Marshall, Aubrey Mather and Leonid Kinskey.
  
  So great to see BALL OF FIRE firmly on DVD. This has been issued as part of the new MGM Movie Classics series along with three other Gary Cooper titles (Casanova Brown, The Wedding Night, and The Adventures of Marco Polo).
  
  (Single-sided, single-layer disc).
  
  
• The stuff classics are made of
  By A1AC9S8U66SNMU on 2007-07-29
  We are talking about the best of the best in romantic comedy. Here is one of the 2 couples that stood out during the golden age of American films. (Capra, Cukor and Preston Sturges, each in their own styles, also gave us some of the greatest classics in the genre). Here Cooper plays himself, the innocent, sweet and honest man who is incapable of doing a bad deed. He and seven older learned men are trying to assemble a modern encyclopedia in New York City. Their search for the newest street slang causes them run into 'trouble-girl' Stanwyck and her gang.
  
  With touches of gang thriller and romantic comedy, its not very ambitious plot captivates by the sheer charm of its stars and the magical touch of genial Howard Hawks, who has a knack for making great classics look simple and unpretentious.
  
  Capra, Hawks and Cukor; Stewart, Cooper and Grant or Jean Arthur, Barbara Stanwyck and Hepburn... whatever the combination it's always a winner. Truly the stuff classics are made of.
  
  Even if any new edition of this classic is welcome, we must still hope for a better treatment (some extras and better print quality) of this treasure of American movie-making history in the future.
  
  
• BALL OF CORN
  By on 2001-02-17
  This film is cute, but lacks the cleverness and comedy of other comedies in the genre.

  It's the basic bad woman seduces innocent man set-up. but unlike "bringing up baby," "the lady eve," and "mr. deeds goes to town" the love story is completely unbelievable.

  i couldnt wait for this one to end.
  
  

• Ball of Fire
  By A3LD6X1B1YDQP7 on 2007-06-06
  Aw shucks. It's Barbara Stanwyck and The Coop. Forget the rip off lack of extras and the definitely shoddy/mushy quality of the copy: it's The Miss for Heavens' sake! It's about great film and great acting, about one of filmdom's most under-rated -Barbara Stanwyck- and and one of it's often over-rated - Gary Cooper (very good, yes, but compared to La Stanwyck: give me a break!!). This is an enduring bit of whimsy, an intelligent and witty film. I first saw it in 1966, when I was 14 years old. Decades later, I find it is still delightfully fresh and timeless. I waited for a decade for this copy to become available on dvd; forgive me for being grateful!
  
  
• BARBARA STANWYCK AS SUGARPUSS O'SHEA!
  By A7KEZEJNVG0MU on 1999-12-23
  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!
  
  
• A great movie
  By A2P1R6NGWALE85 on 1999-08-31
  I heard a lot about this film and I had to see it, since I'm Gary Cooper's biggest fan. As usual, he portrays the ever-popular sweet guy (this time in the form of a professor) and co-colleague of seven other professors who all room together on their college's campus who are reserching to write an encyclopedia and are stuck on "s" for slang. Coop goes all around the city observing others but then he meets the perfect "slang teacher"-Barbara Stanwyk (in an Oscar-nominated role) as the spitfire-tough Sugarpuss O'Shea. She eventually cooperates with him and the other professors and becomes a great friend to all. But their is bound to be trouble sonner or later. See it and find out. I gurentee it's a great film. Coop and Barb are dynamite
  
  
• Bowl of Yum-Yum
  By A2B73CL3QSYWLB on 2007-05-28
  You ask how can you go wrong with a comedy directed by Howard Hawks, a script by Billy Wilder and Charles Bracket, and Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck as your leads? The answer is emphatically you can't. Hollywood sure knew how to maximize it's talent back in the Golden Age. With every good film you start with a good story. There's a great one here and the script is littered with terifically witty bon bons. The chemistry between Cooper and Stanwyck is fantastic. Add to that a supporting cast to die for(Dana Andrews, S.Z. Sakall, Henry Travers, Richard Haydn, et al). My only quibble is the film's possible overlength(it clocks in at 1 hr. 52 min.). "Ball of Fire" is a definite must see for fan's of classic screen comedy.
  
  
• Cooper and Stanwyck star in old-fashioned romance.
  By on 1999-09-24
  This brilliant vehicle for Gary Cooper is the movie that made me fall in love with him. He's at his gentlest most out-of-touch-with-the-real-world best here. Paired with Barbara Stanwyck, the prototypical hard luck gal with a heart of gold, this is one of those rare sentimental movies that invites you to join in the fun without insulting your intelligence. There are some eminently memorable lines as well as some great shots of Stanwyck as a nightclub singer. Book knowledge meets street savvy in this sweet romance. It's an old-fashioned movie, in the best sense of the phrase-- although it does have a car chase of sorts too. Don't miss the brilliant lighting on Stanwyck's eyes in the motel, near the end.
  
  
• Beware of originals and their price!
  By AXXK742WNQSCG on 2006-03-31
  I'm a collector of DVDs from Criterion to mediocre "original" Studio Productions (WB e.g.). This Taiwan-Copy of "Balls of Fire" is first rate quality, picture and sound and anything you can wish for in a remastered DVD. If you want THIS movie, get it at it's low price. If you are a snob or real freak, get it at its "English Original" price. If you don't know what I'm talking about, get something else. Well, I prefer the remake with Danny Kaye to this first Howard Hawks-movie, but then I prefer American Jazz to dated American slang. Gary Cooper against Danny Kaye? impossible to chose. "Ball of Fire" has more bite, "A Song is Born" too much schmalz, but then there is the music and Danny Kaye.
  I have both of them, on DVD and VHS. Best of two worlds.
  
  
• Great Film! Cooper, Stanwyck & the Professors...
  By A1C21DFGXPPAA1 on 2007-04-26
  I paid with a gift card once and now I am Gift Card Recipient...sheesh.
  
  Anyway... Great film.
  
  Very excited to see it will be released to DVD on May 22, 2007.
  
  Very concerned that the specs the film is COLOR! As it was not filmed in color... please do not tell me this wonderful film has been colorized!
  
  I am hoping this listing as color is an error and we will all be happy with the DVD. If it is color....not sure if I will purchase it after waiting so long.
  
  
  
  
• One of the funniest movies I've ever seen!
  By A3WPKPNNSJMJZ on 2000-02-27
  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!
  
  
• A delightful romantic comedy!
  By on 1998-11-25
  They don't make them like this any more, the wit and rhythm of this film put recent films to shame. Very much in the vein of "The Lady Eve" (another one not to be missed). Stanwyck and Cooper are a beautifully mismatched couple surrounded by a dazzling array of wonderful character actors. The scene where she takes off her stockings is sexier than any ten love scenes from the 90's. The Billy Wilder touch is in evidence (he co-wrote this before his American directing career started) as is the fast paced ensamble Howard Hawks style. The DP, Gregg Toland, shot "Citizen Kane" the production design is by Perry Furgeson, who was also a "Kane" alumni. Do yourself a favor and see this film!
  
  

• Midnight (Universal Cinema Classics)
• Easy Living (Universal Cinema Classics)
• The Wedding Night
• Myrna Loy and William Powell Collection (Manhattan Melodrama / Evelyn Prentice / Double Wedding / I Love You Again / Love Crazy)
• The Woman in the Window (MGM Film Noir)