Rating: 
Summary: Cooper and Stanwyck star in old-fashioned romance.
Review: 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.
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: 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: 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: 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.
Rating:
Summary: One of the funniest movies I've ever seen!
Review: 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!
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: 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: This one's a keeper....
Review: 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.
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