Ball of Fire Summary
Director: Howard Hawks
Genres: Comedy
Rating:
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 bookish 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
Great Film Moments:
- In Theaters
- This Week
- Coming Soon
- New on DVD
Browse More Movies:
