- So this was Howard Hawks' great screwball comedy! Who would have guessed that it would be Ball of Fire instead of the infinitely more popular and, in my opinion, grossly overrated His Girl Friday? Regardless, Ball of Fire is an impressive and often hilarious illustration of the "worlds colliding" romantic comedy scenario. In this case, the first of the two worlds is the seedy nightclub scene, epitomized by a free-and-easy chanteuse with the terrifically evocative name of "Sugarpuss" O'Shea (Barbara Stanwyck). The other diametrically opposite world is that of an austere, scholarly encyclopedia writer named Professor Potts (Gary Cooper) and his cadre of bookish specialists (the most recognizable of whom are Henry Travers, S. Z. Sakall, and Leonid Kinskey). Naturally, these two worlds intersect when Professor Potts wants to improve his entry on slang and decides to go right to the source.
- So why would the less-than-studious Sugarpuss ever agree to help fill some gaps in world knowledge? Well, initially she needs to lay low for a while "on account of because" (to borrow her favorite expression) her controlling gangster boyfriend, Joe Lilac (Dana Andrews), is being questioned by the police. Admittedly, a boarding house in which eight bachelors have sequestered themselves to write the encyclopedia is the last place the cops would ever look for someone like Sugarpuss. Things get off to a predictably rocky start as the scholars preen themselves in hopes of being next to receive a rumba lesson, all under the disapproving glare of the schoolmarmish Miss Bragg (Kathleen Howard). Less predictable, perhaps, is the relationship that begins to blossom between Miss O'Shea and Professor Potts.
- Here, Stanwyck and Cooper really impress as polar opposites who stumble upon that particularly obscure mode of attraction. For Potts' part, all his praise for O'Shea's "keen mind" is betrayed by the occasional guilty comment about her "extremely disturbing body," the only cure for which is a cold washcloth applied to the back of the neck. For O'Shea, it's because Potts is "the kind of guy who gets drunk on a glass of buttermilk," and pretty soon she's applying the washcloth, too. Whereas I was fully prepared for Stanwyck to shine as she always does in comedy and drama alike, Cooper's unlikely attempt at a lovelorn straightman is surprisingly effective. Trouble is, they still have to find a way to combine the collective knowledge of the entire encyclopedia to topple that troublesome Joe Lilac.
- Although Ball of Fire would have fizzled quickly without two such strong leads, the supporting cast, strong writing, and direction also deserve a great deal of credit for the film's success. As an academic myself, I can attest to the accuracy with which the team of encyclopedists is portrayed, right down to their oddly arcane dinner conversations and distracted "constitutional" walks in the park. As for the writing, one need not look much beyond Charles Brackett's and Billy Wilder's screenplay credits to understand why this script worked so well. The two would later combine talents on The Lost Weekend and Sunset Blvd. (how's that for a resumé!), but this was their first, and certainly their most humorous, collaboration. Wilder's touch is particularly obvious, both in the employment of slang terms like "yum-yum" (for kissing, naturally) and in the depiction of the desperate loneliness of bachelorhood that would later re-emerge in Sabrina and The Apartment, for example. And standing behind it all is Howard Hawks, whose directorial skills tend to be overshadowed by the remarkable fact that he made great films in nearly every genre. Add Ball of Fire to that list.
- Dan Duryea plays the wonderfully named "Duke Pastrami" while Elisha Cook Jr. has a cameo as a busboy.
