IMDb plot summary: A group of professors working on a new encyclopedia while living in a Manhattan mansion take in a mouthy nightclub singer who is wanted by the police to help bring down her mob boss lover.
Directed by Howard Hawks. Starring Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, and Oskar Homolka.
Ball of Fire is a screwball comedy written by Billy Wilder and starring Gary Cooper as a bookish professor who, alongside seven other intellectuals, had been working on writing an encyclopedia for years. In his search to complete the entry on slang, he comes across fast-talkin nightclub singer played by Barbara Stanwyck, who is hiding from the law and decides to hide out in the professor's home as part of his study. I've seen the musical remake of this film but somehow never made it to the original, and it's definitely a blast. Stanwyck is at maybe her best here, funny and witty and sharp and always seeming to have the upper hand. I've never been a huge fan of Gary Cooper but his woodenness definitely works in his favor here. And of course the sample of character actors playing his elderly professor friends are all delightful. The first hour of the film is probably the better -- it loses a little bit of its comedic luster when it tries to settle on the romantic drama in the second half -- but the casting is so still so much fun but it totally works. This one has been on my list for forever, and it's definitely one I'm going to return to.
How it entered my Flickchart:
Ball of Fire > The Keep
Ball of Fire > Till Death
Ball of Fire > Hearts Beat Loud
Ball of Fire < Take the Money and Run
Ball of Fire > Primal Fear
Ball of Fire > Requiem for a Dream
Ball of Fire < Night of the Living Dead
Ball of Fire < Babe
Ball of Fire > Hamilton
Ball of Fire < Waking Life
Ball of Fire < Ruby Sparks
Final spot: #269 out of 3546, or 92%.
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