Professor Bertram Potts (Gary Cooper) and his colleagues are employed by the Totten Foundation to compile research for a new encyclopedia. It seems that the late Daniel S. Totten, inventor of the electric toaster, was not credited as such by the Encyclopedia Britannica. To remedy this injustice, the foundation was established to give him due credit (three-quarters of a page) in the new publication. Totten's daughter (Mary Field) urges the professors to expedite the process as a cost-cutting measure at an informal meeting ("our semi-annual wigging").

The professors are paid a visit by the local garbage man (Allen Jenkins), who seeks answers to a radio quiz he wants to enter. His constant use of slang has the professors befuddled. Potts realizes that they are out of touch with the world outside their dusty mausoleum, and sets out to fill this gap in his research. By means of a well-constructed montage, we are witness to the habitat of regular janes and joes - those on the cutting-edge of societal trends. His quest for the latest in slang winds up at the upscale nightclub where Sugarpuss O'Shea (Barbara Stanwyck) sings. Intrigued by her ("she jives by night"), Potts asks the waiter (Elisha Cook, Jr.) for information that leads him to O'Shea's dressing room. She seems just the type to be up on current slang.

In her dressing room, Sugarpuss is informed that her gangster boyfriend Joe Lilac (Dana Andrews) has been arrested when Benny the Creep (Will Lee), one of his minions, is caught transporting a body wearing cement overshoes toward New York's East river. Lilac isn't talking, so the D.A. puts out a warrant for Sugarpuss. Lilac and his lawyer (Charles Arnt) hatch a plan that involves getting hitched so she can't be forced to testify against him. In a very funny scene, she gives Potts the brush-off - she hasn't the time to answer questions about slang. He leaves his card behind, should she change her mind. With the police closing in and nowhere to go, she finds the card and makes plans to cool her heels at the Totten Foundation - the last place the cops are bound to look. She gets a tour ("Who decorated this place, the mug that shot Lincoln?") and proceeds to turn the professor's world on its head.

This film is not a screwball comedy in the physical sense, should that be a criterion of the genre - Howard Hawks' 1938 masterpiece "Bringing up Baby" is more typical of the non-stop, fast-paced example that comes to mind. It is the Academy Award nominated screenplay written by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder that propels this vehicle. Quick and clean, it's more cerebral than flat-out zany. The laughs are steady, and the one-liners well-placed.

"Ball of Fire" is one of three films released in 1941 that starred Gary Cooper. His performance is that of an egg-headed bumpkin (no offense to either group) - full of fidget and strained expressions - completely uncomfortable in the presence of the opposite sex. The role would have been better served by an actor with more comedic experience - Cary Grant, or even Joel McCrea - but the point is lost since this film belongs to Stanwyck. Her Academy Award nominated performance as a gangster's moll with class shows what a talented actress can do with good material. She was the highest paid actress in Hollywood for a number of years - the most bankable female star of her era. She was thirty-three years old when this film was shot, and was never lovelier. In her nightclub scene with Gene Krupa and his orchestra, she sets a sensuous and athletic tone as she belts out Krupa's hit "Drum Boogie" (with vocals provided by Martha Tilton). Her brief metallic outfit survived the scrutiny of the censors, as did the bulk of Brackett and Wilder's dialogue.

Director Howard Hawks was at the peak of his career when he directed "Ball of Fire". His list of accomplishments reads like the best of Hollywood. Most of the forty-seven films he directed have titles recognizable even to the casual fan. This same year, Hawks would direct Gary Cooper to his first Best Actor Academy Award for his role as Alvin C. York in the film "Sergeant York" - not a bad consolation prize for being up-staged by Stanwyck in this film. Billy Wilder was at the beginning of a twenty-year success streak that would include films such as 1945's "The Lost Weekend", and 1951's "Sunset Boulevard".

More notable supporting players include Henry Travers ("It's a Wonderful Life") and S.Z. Sakall ("Casablanca") as two of the professors, and future Noir antagonist Dan Duryea as Lilac's thug Pastrami, in his second film appearance. Kathleen Howard plays Miss Bragg, the matronly housekeeper at the Totten Foundation. She discovers that Sugarpuss is on the lam, and needs to be temporarily silenced - the actress suffered a broken jaw when one of Stanwyck's punches accidentally connected.

The 1998 Samuel Goldwyn Home Entertainment / HBO Home Video release shown above is digitally re-mastered, and has excellent video quality. The packaging claims that the audio is surround sound compatible, but considering that the original technology is from 1941, don't expect much - I would rate the audio quality very good overall. Special features include cast biographies, a language menu, and closed-captioning.

I rate this film four stars for two reasons: Gary Cooper's performance is adequate, but he is miscast. There are periods of excessive sentimentality that advance the story, but slow the comedic pace. That said, there is much to recommend this film. Barbara Stanwyck, as always, makes it well worth the price of admission.


Ball of Fire (1941)
Samuel Goldwyn Productions
RKO Radio Pictures
Director: Howard Hawks
Screenplay: Charles Brackett / Billy Wilder
DVD: Goldwyn Home Entertainment / HBO Home Video (1998)


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older