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Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Oscar Homolka, Dana Andrews, Dan Duryea ... see more see more... , S.Z. Sakall , Henry Travers , Tully Marshall , Leonid Kinskey , Richard Haydn , Aubrey Mather , Allen Jenkins , Ralph Peters , Kathleen Howard , Mary Field , Charles Lane , Charles Arnt , Al Rhein , Aldrich Bowker , Eddy Chandler , Ken Christy , Edward Clark , Elisha Cook Jr. , Pat Flaherty , Eddie Foster , Geraldine , Otto Hoffman , Ken Howell , Will Lee , Ethelreda Leopold , Lorraine Miller , Johnnie Morris , Lee Phelps , Addison Richards , Dick Rush , Francis Sayles , George Sherwood , Walter Shumway , Pat West , Gene Krupa , Jack Perry , Tommy Ryan , George Barton , Ed Mundy , Gerald Pierce , Doria Caron , June Horne , Helen Seamon , Tim Ryan

Ball of Fire is a delightful retelling (by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett) of the "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" legend -- though strictly for grownups. Gary Cooper is the youngest of eight book... read more read more...ish professors authoring an encyclopedia. They find a perfect "research associate" in the curvaceous form of stripteaser Barbara Stanwyck, who (chastely) hides on the professors' domicile to escape her gangster boyfriend (Dana Andrews). As Stanwyck interprets various slang expression, she and the professors grow quite fond of one another; she brings out their sentimental sides, while they revive her essential decency. Naturally, Cooper is the one most smitten, though he hides his true feelings until the inevitable clinch. When gangster Andrews and his torpedo Dan Duryea show up to claim Stanwyck (Andrews wants to marry her so she can't testify against him), the professors save the day and it is Cooper who ends up with the beautiful Stanwyck. For the record, two of the "ancient" professors are Richard Haydn and O.Z. Whitehead, still in their mid-thirties (the others are S.Z. Sakall, Tully Marshall, Oscar Homolka, Leonid Kinskey and Aubrey Mather). Producer Sam Goldwyn later remade Ball of Fire as a Danny Kaye musical, A Song is Born (1948). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Flixster Users

88% liked it

2,945 ratings

Critics

100% liked it

24 critics

Unrated, 2 hr.

Directed by: Howard Hawks

Release Date: January 1, 1941

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DVD Release Date: May 22, 2007

Stats: 223 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (223)

  • hunterjt13
    January 16, 2012
    hunterjt13
    A grammarian who is toiling away at an encyclopedia meets a nightclub singer who teaches him slang.
    In the Hollywood's mind, making a film often involved merely pairing the two right movie stars, actors who would look good together and whose respective markets would overlap. To ... read morea large extent, that's even true now (e.g. You've Got Mail and Runaway Bride are re-hashes of couples that worked well in the past). It's like multimillion-dollar match.com. I suspect that's the thinking that went into Ball of Fire. The story is trite and cliche. It's re-telling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs [sic] -- how cliched can you get? But Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck are delightful, rapping their dialogue in a staccato that often makes classics classic.
    Overall, it's a fun diversion and easy to predict, but there's a lot to like about Ball of Fire.
  • ajv2688
    October 3, 2010
    ajv2688
    Not only is this movie hilarious, unique, and witty, but you learn a lot about slang words too. This movie is really fun, great cast and story and everything, I loved it, and I highly recommend it.
  • MeetMeinMontauk
    May 29, 2010
    MeetMeinMontauk
    Ah. A dilemma every English dork struggles with. Kinda reminded me of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs but modern. Very cute and funny. Gary Cooper kinda surprised me in this, the only other movie I had seen before this was High Noon, but his refined nature in this was well played... read more. And I loved Barbara Stanwyck, loved her carefree nature in this.
  • kenstachnik
    September 15, 2008
    kenstachnik
    Written by Billy Wilder and Directed by Howard Hawks.

    How can you go wrong?
  • mjgildea
    September 5, 2008
    mjgildea
    Such a fun movie with a hell of a lot of talent stuffed into it. Barbara Stanwyck plays a burlesque queen hiding out from the cops in the company of 8 professors writing an encyclopedia. Eventual sparks fly between Gary Cooper (who plays the youngest one) and the screwball madnes... read mores indicative of the early 40s ensues. Stanwyck is fantastic as she delivers some of the snappiest dialogue around and as much as Gary Cooper usually bores me, he wasn't too unlikable here. Ball of Fire also has an incredible supporting cast with everyone from Dana Andrews to Henry Travers (Clarence from It's a Wonderful Life.) Billy Wilder co-wrote the script impeccably and Gregg Toland shot it beautifully (the bungalow scene especially.) My only gripe is the rushed marriage angle of the story, but otherwise this is a great, even if unintended take of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Well worth the time.
  • Redlats
    March 16, 2008
    Redlats
    I don't understand why these old movies are rated so highly. It is a predictable story -- good girl - going to marry a crook - meets a nice guy and falls in love with him - gets blackmailed into marrying the crook - good guys intervene and save the day. So why is it rated 4 stars?
  • jjnxn
    April 1, 2007
    jjnxn
    barbara's a live wire throwing the 40's slang like nobody's business
  • DrStrangeblog
    September 25, 2011
    DrStrangeblog
    With Howard Hawks directing a screenplay co-written by Billy Wilder, how can you go wrong? Ball of Fire offers one answer: hopelessly dated material. Gary Cooper is well cast as stiff, puritanical linguist who is one among eight experts in other areas of science & litera... read moreture sequestered in a house together for nine years writing a new encyclopedia because the benefactor felt slighted he didn't get a mention in Britannica for inventing the the electric toaster. Yes, only in a Hawks or Frank Capra movie will you find this scenario! Into their sheltered lives storms Sugarpuss O'Shea (no, I did not make that up) upon the pretense of helping Cooper with his study of slang but who is really there to circumvent police interrogation at the request of her gangster boyfriend.

    What struck me most during this movie is how much times have changed since 1941, staggeringly so. Most of the slang expressions introduced here have long since been extinct, the electric guitarist plays scratch rhythms in a big swing band, there is one brief shot of a non-white actor during the whole 2 hours in New York, Cooper proposes to a woman he's known for a week because "it's the next logical step" after having declared his love the evening before, and the sight of a woman's bare leg completely disrupts the scholarly function of the entire house. (Well, that last one might still apply depending upon whom the leg is attached.) I've seen & love many old movies but occasionally catch one that seems better left in the time capsule.

    Barbara Stanwyck is indisputably terrific as the titular pyrotechnic display Sugarpuss, providing a consistent spark as she commandeers this collection of blubbering elderly bachelors. Fans will love watching her in this.
  • patrickdol
    January 8, 2009
    patrickdol
    The best way to soften up some squares is with Sugarpuss O'Shea and a little Chica-Chica Boom-Boom.
    It's right off the cob, but it's a hoot and a holler.
  • threefolddado
    May 21, 2008
    threefolddado
    Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck shine under Howard Hawks excellent direction.

View All Ball of Fire Reviews

Critic Reviews

February 4, 2009
TIME Magazine

Actor Cooper plays his Mr. Deeds role with the authority of long familiarity, and Miss Stanwyck (once Ruby Stevens, of Brooklyn) is equally at home in hers. Full Review

Variety Staff
August 14, 2007
Variety Staff, Variety

Casting is meticulously perfect to make every character a caricature of itself. Full Review

Don Druker
August 14, 2007
Don Druker, Chicago Reader

A delight. Full Review

Bosley Crowther
May 20, 2003
Bosley Crowther, New York Times

Mr. Cooper may be a little loose-tooth in spots, but he gives a homespun performance such as only he can give. Miss Stanwyck is plenty yum-yum (meaning scorchy) in her worldly temptress role. Full Review

John Beifuss
February 18, 2011
John Beifuss, Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

'I've gone goofy, completely goofy,' Cooper says, as the chaos of slang overwhelms his orderly vocabulary: 'Bim-buggy, slap-happy.' Watching 'Ball of Fire,' you feel similarly liberated. Full Review

Michael E. Grost
July 7, 2010
Michael E. Grost, Classic Film and Television

One of the best screwball comedies. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
June 24, 2007
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

As the timid professor and burlesque stripper, Cooper and Stanwyck are at the top of their form in Hawks' delectable screwball comedy, based on a witty script from Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett. Full Review

Fernando F. Croce
May 24, 2007
Fernando F. Croce, Slant Magazine

After the rush of His Girl Friday, Ball of Fire is a more sedate ride, full of such marvelous passages as the conga line Stanwyck's delectable Sugarpuss teaches the professors. Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
January 31, 2006
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Does a fine job subverting the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs children's story. Full Review

January 26, 2006
Time Out

Pure joy. Full Review

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    • 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!
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Ball of Fire Trivia

  • In Harry Potter and the Goblet of fire who does Harry ask to go to the ball with him...?  Answer »
  • Who did Hermoine go to the ball with in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire?   Answer »
  • in harry potter and the goblet of fire who does hermione go to the yule ball with  Answer »
  • In "Ball of Fire", what was Barbara Stanley's occupation?  Answer »
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