Rating: 
Summary: Burns the House Down!
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Cooper and Stanwyck in the classic screwball comedy
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Worth the wait.....
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Delicious Screwball Farce
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Sugarpuss and the Seven Dwarfs
Review: 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".
Rating:
Summary: A Comic Masterpiece
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A Stanwyck masterpiece
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Who says scholarly reseach is cut and dried?
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: A thoroughly delightful comedy.
Review: 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!
Rating: 
Summary: BALL OF CORN
Review: 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.
|
