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Sugarpuss O'Shea (Barbara Stanwyck) demonstrates the
definition of "yum-yum" for Professor Bertram Potts
(Gary Cooper) in "Ball of Fire."
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Ball of Fire (1941, Samuel Goldwyn)
Starring Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Dana Andrews,
Henry Travers, Dan Duryea, S.Z. Sakall,
Oskar Homolka, Richard Haydn
Screenplay by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder
Directed by Howard Hawks
“A little sun in my hair and you
had to water your neck.” — Sugarpuss O’Shea
With a story that resembles a modern (for 1941) reworking of the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs fairy tale, Ball of Fire is a fine example of the screwball romantic comedies that were so popular in the 1930s and early ‘40s. It’s also a huge ball of fun.
Screwball comedies featured absurd tales of men and women from different worlds who meet, fall in love, are separated by a misunderstanding before reuniting for the big kiss at the fadeout. But no worlds are more dissimilar than the ones in this film. Professor Bertram Potts (Gary Cooper) is one of eight academics who have been cloistered for eight years as they assemble a new encyclopedia. Sugarpuss O’Shea (Barbara Stanwyck) is the gorgeous showgirl moll of gangster Joe Lilac (Dana Andrews).
Their worlds collide when Potts, out on the town doing field research for his article on slang, catches a show featuring Sugarpuss, who sings “Drum Boogie,” a song jam-packed with slang. Potts shyly goes to her dressing room and tries to interview her, but she gives him the bum’s rush — but not before he gives her his address. When Sugarpuss learns that the DA who’s working to bring down Lilac wants to subpoena her, guess where she goes to hide out.
She shakes up the dusty atmosphere of the academics’ house when the spends several days with them, but Potts is shaken the most, despite his vain attempts to resist Sugarpuss’ charms. Eventually, he can’t hold out any longer, especially when Sugarpuss demonstrates what “yum-yum” is (yum-yum = kisses). It all makes Potts’ fall much harder when he finds out about Joe Lilac. But his joy is boundless when he realizes Sugarpuss truly loves him.
What makes the tried-and-true formula work are wonderful performances and a great Brackett and Wilder script. Cooper is a treat as the man whose life had been focused entirely on study until he meets the woman who unlocks his hidden passion. Stanwyck’s Sugarpuss is sassy, sexy, and downright alluring, and one of her best roles. A marvelous conglomeration of veteran character actors ensures the other academics are more than caricatures and are a big part of the laughs the film generates in bushels.
The “modern” slang might be dated, but the laughs and good feelings produced by Ball of Fire still resonate several generations later.
