IMDb > Ball of Fire (1941)
Ball of Fire
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Ball of Fire (1941) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
7.9/10   3,118 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 1% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Howard Hawks
Writers:
Charles Brackett (screenplay) &
Billy Wilder (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Ball of Fire on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
2 December 1941 (USA) more
Genre:
Comedy | Romance more
Tagline:
The New Year's red-hot comedy! more
Plot:
A group of ivory-tower lexicographers realize they need to hear how real people talk, and end up helping a beautiful singer escape from the Mob. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Nominated for 4 Oscars. more
User Comments:
Ball of fun. more (52 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Gary Cooper ... Prof. Bertram Potts

Barbara Stanwyck ... Sugarpuss O'Shea
Oskar Homolka ... Prof. Gurkakoff
Henry Travers ... Prof. Jerome
S.Z. Sakall ... Prof. Magenbruch
Tully Marshall ... Prof. Robinson
Leonid Kinskey ... Prof. Quintana
Richard Haydn ... Prof. Oddly
Aubrey Mather ... Prof. Peagram
Allen Jenkins ... Garbage Man

Dana Andrews ... Joe Lilac
Dan Duryea ... Duke Pastrami
Ralph Peters ... Asthma Anderson
Kathleen Howard ... Miss Bragg
Mary Field ... Miss Totten
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
The Professor and the Burlesque Queen
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Runtime:
111 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)
Certification:
Australia:PG | Argentina:Atp | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #7847)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
To pick up authentic slang for the film script, screenwriters Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett visited the drugstore across the street from Hollywood High School, a burlesque house and the Hollywood Park racetrack. more
Goofs:
Continuity: During the "Drumboogie" sequence, the black jazz trumpet soloist Roy Eldridge disappears from the band between shots. more
Quotes:
Sugarpuss O'Shea: [about Potts] Yes, I love him. I love those hick shirts he wears with the boiled cuffs and the way he always has his vest buttoned wrong. He looks like a giraffe, and I love him. more
Movie Connections:
References Sergeant York (1941) more
Soundtrack:
Drum Boogie more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
12 out of 16 people found the following comment useful.
Ball of fun., 29 November 2001
Author: Glenn Andreiev (gandreiev@aol.com) from Huntington, NY

Basically, this is a gangster version of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" Here "Snow White" is a night club singer faultlessly played by Barbara Stanwyck. The "evil witch" is the local police, out to haul her in because of tie-in to a gangster (Dana Andrews) The magic forest of course, is New York. The seven dwarfs are a group of introverted professors led by bookworm Gary Cooper.

The film ahs a wonderful screenplay by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett. (Sample dialog COP: How do you find a needle in a haystack? GANGSTER: Simple. Feed the hay to a horse, and X-Ray the horse.) Directed with zip by the great Howard Hawks.

Was the above comment useful to you?
more (52 total)

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LOW SOUND!? junefirst26
One of Barbara Stanwyck's Sexiest Roles csu16387
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SCREENING ALERT w/ Maria Cooper Janis in June jdbna
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