Ball of Fire (DVD)

The year 1941 should have held very fond memories for both Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper. Each had three good to excellent films open that year that showed off their acting skills both comic and dramatic to maximum advantage. Stanwyck shone in Preston Sturges' scintillating "The Lady Eve"(excellent), Gary Cooper starred in "Sergeant York" for which he won his first Best Actor Oscar. Then there were the two films in which they both co-starred: Frank Capra's social drama "Meet John Doe"(good) and finally this one, the romantic comedy "Ball of Fire"(near excellent).One of the best screenwriting teams in the Golden Age of Hollywood, Charles Brackett and Bill Wilder penned the original screenplay, a very savvy 20th century update of the classic fairy tale "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". Stanwyck's Snow White is called Sugarpuss O'Shea, her Prince Charming, gangling Professor Bertram Potts, Cooper of course, and the Seven Dwarfs are seven elderly professors of slight stature. The eight professors, all bachelors, live together in Manhattan in a house owned by the Daniel S. Totten Foundation for which they are working on compiling an encyclopedia. They are totally immersed in their work, and as such lead very sheltered, insular lives sternly kept in line by their tyrant of a housekeeper Miss Bragg (Kathleen Howard). When Potts discovers his current topic, American slang woefully outdated he ventures out into the city to do research. At day's end he finds himself at a nightclub where the star attraction is a sizzling singer called Sugarpuss O'Shea. Intrigued by her snappy line of patter, Potts goes backstage to try to enlist her participation in a slang workshop. She turns him down flat, but he leaves her his card in case she changes her mind. Sugarpuss shortly does, when she finds out the police are after her as a material witness against her gangster boyfriend Joe Lilac (Dana Andrews). She needs a hideout, finds Potts card, and next thing you know she's moved in pretending she's enthusiastic in helping him learn the latest slang. Just as Snow White's living with the Seven Dwarfs changes their lives for the better, so does Sugarpuss' influence bring the eight professors back into the vital real world. However Sugarpuss' character also changes positively, she becomes less hard-boiled, her finer side begins to emerge as she begins to be fond of them all. Bertram's long dormant hormones awake with a vengeance; despite herself Sugarpuss is touched by his gentle naïveté and starts to be attracted to him. Except, what of Joe Lilac who wants to marry her so as his wife she can't testify against him, and his two goons that are keeping tabs on her?Some previous reviews have called the film dated because of the outmoded slang. I disagree, it's a snapshot of it's time, the USA in the early 1940's, and the initial motivation of the plot is that Professor Potts finds out how quickly the slang can become outdated. Also with texting and all the acronyms such as "OMG" and "LOL" going on these days, it's very pertinent. Quite fun to listen to American slang circa 1941, several of the terms are very quaint and picturesque such as: "smackeroo", "clip the mooch", "shove in your clutch", and my personal favorite "bop the apple" (hit the baseball). And, calling the feet "dogs" then is no more ludicrous than the current slang term "junk" used to label a guy's genitals!Barbara Stanwyck has been grouped as one of the three "strong woman" actresses in films of the 1930's and 1940's, along with Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, and both have unjustly overshadowed her. She's an infinitely better actress than Crawford, and never chews the scenery as much as Davis can at her worst. Sugarpuss O'Shea the slick, hard as nails singer who winds up redeemed by love, is one of her most vibrant, delightful portrayals. The shift in her character is beautifully subtle, very delicately handled by Stanwyck, and always believable, with the additional bonus of her being provocatively alluring as well! This role landed her a second Best Actress nomination, probably in addition to her gorgeous dual performance in "The Lady Eve" that same year, but in yet another Oscar injustice she lost the prize!This is one of Gary Cooper's funnier characterizations, he's quite inspired as the reserved, self contained Professor Bertram Potts, whose exposure to the "ball of fire" known as "Sugarpuss" results in his own dimly lit pilot light to start burning brightly. His frenzied bolting up the stairs after Sugarpuss has given him his first yum-yum, to dash cold water on his neck is a great piece of physical comedy, as is his spastic loose limbed fight with Joe Lilac near the end of the film. He masters a marvelous double take when Sugarpuss removes her fur coat the night she arrives at the foundation to reveal her scanty costume showcasing her fabulous legs. Also his goofily dreamy expression tinged with lust after Sugarpuss and he have had a little yum- yum is priceless. Yet he doesn't make the professor a buffoon and gives him a simple dignity that is very appealing, and makes it apparent why he is able to melt Sugarpuss' heart.All of the seven professors give marvelous supporting performances, especially the superb character actors Henry Travers, S.Z Sakall, Oscar Homolka and Richard Haydn. In an early role, future star Dana Andrews is both smirking and menacing as Joe Lilac and Dan Duryea and Ralph Peters as his two thugs make perfect oafs, smug and stupid at the same time. A special nod of appreciation to Gene Krupa and his orchestra who perform the catchy "Drum Boogie" with Stanwyck. And last but no means least, director Howard Hawks, who developed the "Hawks woman" in film, the bright, attractive, self assured woman who was man's equal and insisted on it, such as Katharine Hepburn in "Bringing Up Baby", Jean Arthur in "Only Angels Have Wings", Rosalind Russell in "His Girl Friday" and Lauren Bacall in "To Have and Have Not". This was a trailblazing new woman in film, and Sugarpuss is one of the best examples.

"Ball Of Fire" is one my favorite screwball romantic comedies. It was made towards the end of a golden era of this genre of films, which also includes such better-known classics as "The Philadelphia Story" (1940), "His Girl Friday" (1940) and "Bringing Up Baby" (1938). Directed by Howard Hawks, the master of rapid-fire comedic dialogue, it tells the story of nerdy language scholar Bertram Potts (Gary Cooper, in one of his best "aw-shucks" performances, along with "Mr. Deeds Goes To Town") who lives in a house with seven other stodgy, albeit older bachelor scholars, all of whom are working on an encyclopedia.Upon discovering that his knowledge of slang is outdated, Potts bravely ventures forth into the real world, where he discovers flashy (literally, as the dress she is first seen in is sequined and purposely lit so as to momentarily "blind" Potts when she shows up at his house in it) nightclub singer Katherine "Sugar Puss" O'Shea (Barbara Stanwyck). He is taken in by O'Shea's gusty performance of "Drum Boogie", (accompanied by a famous drummer of the times, Gene Krupa, who reminds me onstage a bit of "The Who" drummer Keith Moon), and her lively banter, and asks her to help him with his slang research. She takes him up on his invitation very abruptly by showing up at his home that same night, claiming to be arriving to help, when in fact she's trying to hide. The resulting storyline is predictable, fast-paced, extremely well-written, thoroughly dated, and filled with 1940's slang...in other words, to anyone who is a fan of this genre...completely captivating and charming.With this in mind, and taken as a movie of the times, it's a comedic gem. Gary Cooper (my all-time personal favorite actor) is absolutely sexy here, believe it or not, and Barbara Stanwyck is perfect as the title's sassy little "Ball Of Fire", with her brash, streetwise exterior but ultimately soft heart, climbing onto a stack of books to reach the 6'4" Potts so she can show him the meaning of "yum-yum". Also, the above-mentioned dress she first wears, which is featured in most of the ads for the film is amazing; it's something Bob Mackie might have designed for Cher, and she looks gorgeous in it. The outstanding supporting parts are interesting, clever, and except for the gangster parts, individually well-fleshed. Veteran character actors such as Oskar Homolka (the servant in "Mr. Sardonicus") and Henry Travers (the angel in "It's Wonderful Life") help lend charm to the story. Dana Andrews ("Laura") and Dan Duryea ("The Little Foxes"), are effective, if somewhat wasted, in small parts as typical sterotypical 1940's mobsters.You'd have to enjoy these kind of old screwball, dated comedies of the '40's to love this one...and I do.Side note: the roles of the seven professors (excluding Cooper's) were inspired by Disney's dwarfs from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs".