Ball of Fire
“I LOVE HIM because he doesn't know how to kiss—THE JERK!”
1941 | 111m | English
Popularity: 5 (history)
| Director: | Howard Hawks |
|---|---|
| Writer: | Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, Thomas Monroe |
| Staring: |
| A group of academics have spent years shut up in a house working on the definitive encyclopedia. When one of them discovers that his entry on slang is hopelessly outdated, he ventures into the wide world to learn about the evolving language. Here he meets Sugarpuss O’Shea, a nightclub singer, who’s on top of all the slang—and, it just so happens, needs a place to stay. | |
| Release Date: | Dec 02, 1941 |
|---|---|
| Director: | Howard Hawks |
| Writer: | Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, Thomas Monroe |
| Genres: | Comedy, Romance, Crime |
| Keywords | slang, nightclub, us republican party, nightclub performer, research, gangster, encyclopedia, screwball comedy, marriage proposal, professor, singer, conga |
| Production Companies | RKO Radio Pictures, Samuel Goldwyn Productions |
| Box Office |
Revenue: $2,641,000
Budget: $0 |
| Updates |
Updated: Feb 01, 2025 (Update) Entered: Apr 13, 2024 |
| Name | Character |
|---|---|
| Gary Cooper | Professor 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 |
| Charles Lane | Larsen |
| Charles Arnt | McNeary |
| Elisha Cook Jr. | Waiter |
| Mary Field | Miss Totten |
| Alan Rhein | 'Horseface' |
| Eddie Foster | Pinstripe |
| Aldrich Bowker | Justice of the Peace |
| Addison Richards | District Attorney |
| Kenneth Howell | College Boy |
| Tim Ryan | Motor Policeman |
| Gene Krupa | Himself — Orchestra Leader |
| Pat West | Bum |
| Tommy Ryan | Newsboy |
| Will Lee | “Benny — the Creep” |
| George Barton | Garbage Man (uncredited) |
| Doria Caron | Girl in Subway (uncredited) |
| Ken Christy | Cop with Ms. Bragg (uncredited) |
| Eddy Chandler | Cop on Garbage Truck (uncredited) |
| Edward Clark | Motor Court Proprietor (uncredited) |
| Pat Flaherty | Deputy (uncredited) |
| Otto Hoffman | Stage Doorman (uncredited) |
| Ethelreda Leopold | Nursemaid at Park (uncredited) |
| Lorraine Miller | Girl in Café (uncredited) |
| Ruth Clifford | Chorus Girl (uncredited) |
| Yvonne Duval | Chorus Girl (uncredited) |
| Joyce Matthews | Chorus Girl (uncredited) |
| Patsy Moran | Chorus Girl (uncredited) |
| Mildred Morris | Chorus Girl (uncredited) |
| Edward Mundy | Spieler (uncredited) |
| Gerald Pierce | Delivery Boy (uncredited) |
| Lynne Roberts | Veiled Woman in Gene Krupa’s Audience (uncredited) |
| Francis Sayles | Taxi Driver (uncredited) |
| Helen Seamon | College Girl (uncredited) |
| George Sherwood | Deputy (uncredited) |
| Walter Shumway | Garbage Man (uncredited) |
| Bert Stevens | Nightclub Patron (uncredited) |
| Russell Wade | Nightclub Patron (uncredited) |
| Chalky Williams | Cop (uncredited) |
| Martha Tilton | Sugarpuss O'Shea (singing voice) (uncredited) |
| John Alban | Baseball Game Spectator (uncredited) |
| Tex Brodus | Passerby (uncredited) |
| Chet De Vito | Tollkeeper (uncredited) |
| Roy Eldridge | Trumpeter (uncredited) |
| Geraldine Fissette | Hula Dancer (uncredited) |
| Laura Gile | Date of Prof. Bertram Potts (uncredited) |
| George Golden | Nightclub Patron (uncredited) |
| Catherine Henderson | College Girl (uncredited) |
| June Horne | Nursemaid at Park (uncredited) |
| Merrillee Lannon | Girl in Subway (uncredited) |
| Jean MacMurray | Chorus Girl (uncredited) |
| Hal McIntyre | Saxaphonist (uncredited) |
| Mike Morelli | Pool Hall Patron (uncredited) |
| William H. O'Brien | Baseball Game Spectator (uncredited) |
| Jack Perry | Pool Hall Patron (uncredited) |
| Name | Job |
|---|---|
| Edith Head | Costume Design, Costumer |
| Howard Hawks | Director |
| Charles Brackett | Screenplay |
| Billy Wilder | Screenplay, Original Story |
| Daniel Mandell | Editor |
| Gregg Toland | Director of Photography |
| Alfred Newman | Original Music Composer |
| Samuel Goldwyn | Presenter |
| Martha Tilton | Vocals |
| Howard Bristol | Set Decoration |
| Frank Maher | Sound Engineer |
| Julia Heron | Set Decoration |
| John Sherwood | Assistant Director |
| Thomas Monroe | Original Story |
| William Tummel | Assistant Director |
| Mel Berns | Makeup Artist |
| Marty Moss | Second Assistant Director |
| Irving W. Sindler | Property Master |
| David Buttolph | Additional Music |
| Perry Ferguson | Art Direction |
| McClure Capps | Assistant Art Director |
| Earl Rettig | Unit Manager |
| Arthur Rosson | Second Unit Director |
| James V. Murray | Assistant Camera |
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| Samuel Goldwyn | Producer |
| Organization | Category | Person |
|---|
Popularity History
| Year | Month | Avg | Max | Min |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 4 | 13 | 23 | 9 |
| 2024 | 5 | 17 | 25 | 10 |
| 2024 | 6 | 13 | 23 | 8 |
| 2024 | 7 | 15 | 26 | 8 |
| 2024 | 8 | 12 | 23 | 9 |
| 2024 | 9 | 9 | 14 | 5 |
| 2024 | 10 | 10 | 16 | 6 |
| 2024 | 11 | 12 | 29 | 6 |
| 2024 | 12 | 9 | 14 | 7 |
| 2025 | 1 | 11 | 21 | 7 |
| 2025 | 2 | 8 | 14 | 3 |
| 2025 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 1 |
| 2025 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| 2025 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| 2025 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 2025 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2025 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 2025 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
Trending Position
This is a cracking little comedy with Gary Cooper as the unlikely boffin "Prof. Potts" who, alongside a group of equally eminent academics has been working on an encyclopaedia for the previous 9 years - and they've only got to "S". Enter the mailman who is doing a radio quiz just as our professor is ... concluding his section on slang - only for him to realise that their studious isolation has left them so out of touch as to render his slang definition worthless. Off he sets into the city to learn more where he alights on night-club singer "Sugarpuss O'Shea" (Barbara Stanwyck) and her colleagues who offer him a fascinatingly new vernacular. Turns out that she is the moll of wanted gangster "Joe Lilac" (Dana Andrews) so she agrees to help them develop their book whilst using their dignified home as a hideaway. A bit like Greer Garson in "Goodbye Mr. Chips" (1939), only much feistier, she melts the hearts of the old starched shirts and soon Cooper has become totally smitten.... Both leads are on top form; the writing barely comes up for breath as this pacy, engaging comedy comes to a suitably Damoclean conclusion... Great fun!