''Ball of Fire'' is a 1941 American

screwball comedy Screwball comedy is a subgenre of the romantic comedy genre that became popular during the Great Depression, beginning in the early 1930s and thriving until the early 1940s, that satirizes the traditional love story. It has secondary characteristi ...

film directed by Howard Hawks and starring

Gary Cooper Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, ...

and Barbara Stanwyck. This

Samuel Goldwyn Productions Samuel Goldwyn Productions was an American film production company founded by Samuel Goldwyn in 1923, and active through 1959. Personally controlled by Goldwyn and focused on production rather than distribution, the company developed into the m ...

film (originally distributed by

RKO RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheu ...

) concerns 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

Oscar Homolka Oskar Homolka (August 12, 1898 – January 27, 1978) was an Austrian film and theatre actor, who went on to work in Germany, Britain and America. Both his voice and his appearance fitted him for roles as communist spies or Soviet officials, for w ...

, S. Z. Sakall,

Henry Travers Travers John Heagerty (5 March 1874 – 18 October 1965), known professionally as Henry Travers, was an English film and stage character actor. His best known role was the guardian angel Clarence Odbody in the 1946 film ''It's a Wonderful Life' ...

Richard Haydn Richard Haydn (born George Richard Haydon, 10 March 1905 – 25 April 1985) was a British-American comedy actor. Some of his better known performances include his roles as Professor Oddley in '' Ball of Fire'' (1941), Roger in '' No Time for Lo ...

Dana Andrews Carver Dana Andrews (January 1, 1909 – December 17, 1992) was an American film actor who became a major star in what is now known as film noir. A leading man during the 1940s, he continued acting in less prestigious roles and character parts ...

, and

Dan Duryea Dan Duryea ( , January 23, 1907 – June 7, 1968) was an American actor in film, stage, and television. Known for portraying a vast range of character roles as a villain, he nonetheless had a long career in a wide variety of leading and second ...

. In 1948, Hawks recycled the plot for a musical film, ''

A Song Is Born ''A Song Is Born'' (also known as ''That's Life''), starring Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo, is a 1948 Technicolor musical film remake of Howard Hawks' 1941 movie ''Ball of Fire'' with Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck. This version was also d ...

'', this time starring Danny Kaye and

Virginia Mayo Virginia Mayo (born Virginia Clara Jones; November 30, 1920 – January 17, 2005) was an American actress and dancer. She was in a series of comedy films with Danny Kaye and was Warner Brothers' biggest box-office money-maker in the late 1940s. ...

. The film is also known as ''The Professor and the Burlesque Queen''. In 2016, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

, and selected for preservation in its

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...

Plot

A group of professors, all bachelors except for a widower, have lived together for some years in a

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

residence, compiling an encyclopedia of all human knowledge. The youngest, Professor Bertram Potts (

), is a grammarian who is researching modern American

slang Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-g ...

. The professors are accustomed to working in relative seclusion at a leisurely pace with a prim housekeeper, Miss Bragg, keeping watch over them. Their impatient financial backer, Miss Totten, suddenly demands that they finish their work soon. Venturing out to do some independent research, Bertram becomes interested in the slang vocabulary of nightclub performer Katherine "Sugarpuss" O'Shea ( Barbara Stanwyck). She is reluctant to assist him in his research until she suddenly needs a place to hide from the police, who want to question her about her boyfriend,

mob boss A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, Don, gang lord, gang boss, mob boss, kingpin, godfather, crime mentor or criminal mastermind, is a person in charge of a criminal organization. Description A crime boss typically has absolute or near ...

Joe Lilac. Sugarpuss takes refuge in the house where the professors live and work, despite Bertram's objections and their housekeeper's threat to leave because of her. In the meantime, Joe decides to marry her, but only because as his wife she would not be able to testify against him. The professors soon become enamored of her femininity, and she begins to grow fond of them. Sugarpuss teaches them to conga and demonstrates to Bertram the meaning of the phrase "yum yum" kisses. She becomes attracted to Bertram, who reciprocates by proposing marriage to her. She avoids giving him an answer to the proposal and agrees to Joe's plan to have the professors drive her to New Jersey to marry him. After a series of misadventures, including a car crash, Sugarpuss realizes that she is in love with Bertram, but is forced to go ahead with her marriage to Joe to save the professors from his henchmen. Bertram, meanwhile, unaware of Sugarpuss' love for him, prepares to resume his research, sadder but wiser, until he discovers her true feelings. The professors eventually outwit Joe and his henchmen and rescue Sugarpuss. She claims she is not good enough for Bertram, but his forceful application of a kiss changes her mind.

Cast

Music

Martha Tilton Martha Tilton (November 14, 1915 – December 8, 2006) was an American popular singer during America's swing era and traditional pop period. She is best known for her 1939 recording of " And the Angels Sing" with Benny Goodman. Tilton was born ...

provided Barbara Stanwyck's singing voice for the song " Drum Boogie". Drummer and bandleader

Gene Krupa Eugene Bertram Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973), known as Gene Krupa, was an American jazz drummer, bandleader and composer who performed with energy and showmanship. His drum solo on Benny Goodman's 1937 recording of " Sing, Sing, ...

performed the song onscreen with his band.Kael, p. 48. In an unusual twist, he also played it on a matchbox with matches for drumsticks. Krupa band member and noted trumpeter

Roy Eldridge David Roy Eldridge (January 30, 1911 – February 26, 1989), nicknamed "Little Jazz", was an American jazz trumpeter. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos exhibiting a departure from ...

received a brief on-camera spot during "Drum Boogie". At one point, the professors also perform an a cappella version of the 1869 song " Sweet Genevieve".

Production

The script was written by

Charles Brackett Charles William Brackett (November 26, 1892 – March 9, 1969) was an American screenwriter and film producer. He collaborated with Billy Wilder on sixteen films. Life and career Brackett was born in Saratoga Springs, New York, the son of ...

, Thomas Monroe, and

Billy Wilder Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-American filmmaker. His career in Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Classic Hol ...

from a short story titled "From A to Z", which Wilder had created while he was still in Europe. Partly inspired by the fairy tale "

Snow White "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection '' Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...

", the professors were loosely based on the dwarfs from

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

's animated film ''

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...

''. Although ''Ball of Fire'' was directed by the well-established Howard Hawks, Wilder had already decided that he needed to direct his screenplays to protect them from studio and other directors' 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 ''Meet John Doe'' is a 1941 American comedy-drama film directed and produced by Frank Capra, written by Robert Riskin, and starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck. The film is about a "grassroots" political campaign created unwittingly by ...

''.

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...

and Carole Lombard turned down the Sugarpuss role, while

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golde ...

was almost cast until Gary Cooper recommended Stanwyck. 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 The ''Daily Worker'' was a newspaper published in New York City by the Communist Party USA, a formerly Comintern-affiliated organization. Publication began in 1924. While it generally reflected the prevailing views of the party, attempts were ...

'' left-wing newspaperand just as sore." Wilder also worked in a reference to Cooper's

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

-winning performance in the title role of Hawks' 1941 film '' Sergeant York'' by having Dan Duryea's character Duke Pastrami say, "I saw me a movie last week" before licking his thumb and rubbing it on the sight of his gun, a technique Cooper's York uses to improve his marksmanship.

Reception

According to RKO records, ''Ball of Fire'' took in $1,856,000 in theater rentals from the United States and Canada and an additional $785,000 from foreign rentals, but because of the terms of Sam Goldwyn's deal with RKO, RKO recorded a loss of $147,000 on it. ''Ball of Fire'' holds a 100% approval rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on 26 reviews, with a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

of 8.24/10. The site's consensus reads: "A splendidly funny twist on the story of Snow White, ''Ball of Fire'' boasts a pair of perfect leads in Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck".

Awards and honors

''Ball of Fire'' was nominated for

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for

Best Actress in a Leading Role The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. ...

(Barbara Stanwyck), Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture,

Best Sound, Recording The Academy Award for Best Sound is an Academy Award that recognizes the finest or most euphonic sound mixing, recording, sound design, and sound editing. The award used to go to the studio sound departments until a rule change in 1969 said it ...

( Thomas T. Moulton) and Best Story."The 14th Academy Awards (1942) Nominees and Winners."
''oscars.org.'' Retrieved: November 17, 2011. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, 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. ''Ball of Fire'' is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: * 2000: AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs – #92 * 2002: AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions – Nominated * 2005: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes: ** Sugarpuss O'Shea: "I love him because he's the kind of guy who gets drunk on a glass of buttermilk, and I love the way he blushes right up over his ears. I love him because he doesn't know how to kiss, the jerk!" – Nominated * 2008: AFI's 10 Top 10: ** Romantic Comedy Film – Nominated"AFI's 10 Top 10 Nominees."
''American Film Institute''. Retrieved: August 21, 2016. 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.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * Jewell, Richard B. '' RKO Radio Pictures: A Titan Is Born''. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 2012. . * Madsen, Axel. ''Stanwyck: A Biography''. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. . * Smith, Ella. ''Starring Miss Barbara Stanwyck.'' New York: Random House. 1995. . * Thomson, David. ''Gary Cooper'' (Great Stars). New York: Faber & Faber, 2010. . * Wayne, Jane. ''Life and Loves of Barbara Stanwyck.'' London: JR Books Ltd., 2009. .

External links

* * * *
''Ball of Fire''
on

Screen Guild Theater ''The Screen Guild Theater'' is a radio anthology series broadcast from 1939 until 1952 during the Golden Age of Radio. Leading Hollywood stars performed adaptations of popular motion pictures. Originating on CBS Radio, it aired under several dif ...

: November 30, 1942
''Ball of Fire''
on ''Theater of Romance'': January 23, 1945 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ball Of Fire 1941 films 1941 romantic comedy films 1940s screwball comedy films American crime comedy films American romantic comedy films American screwball comedy films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films Films scored by Alfred Newman Films directed by Howard Hawks Films set in New York City RKO Pictures films Samuel Goldwyn Productions films Films with screenplays by Billy Wilder Films with screenplays by Charles Brackett United States National Film Registry films Films based on short fiction Films about lexicography 1940s American films