Rating: 
Summary: She jives by night
Review: 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 living all under the same roof in a in-town 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sheltered circle with some eye-opening questions and Prof.Potts (Cooper) realizes his three weeks of compiling slang is obsolete.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
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: 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: BALL OF CORN
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: 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: 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: Great 40's comedy
Review: For anyone who only associates Barbara Stanwyck with television's "The Big Valley" series, this movie should provide some good insight into just how talented this actress was. Barbara Stanwyck was a top star during the forties, and her versatility was amazing. "Ball of Fire" showcases her marvelous comedic talents. It also gives viewers a glimpse of just how wonderful these "old" movies really are. Gary Cooper and Stanwyck had a great on-screen chemistry. But the most surprising thing is how sexy Barbara Stanwyck was on that screen. She was positively luminous. See this movie and judge for yourself. Today's movies are positively sordid by comparison.
Rating:
Summary: One of Stanwyck's Best
Review: 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.
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: 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".
|
