Ball of Fire (1941)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Ball of Fire (1941) – H. Hawks

Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve always found Gary Cooper to be a bit stiff – he isn’t my favourite lead actor from the period.  But in this picture he plays a naïve and rather wooden English Professor, so perhaps he’s apt – but his portrayal does slow down the pace of what is designed to be a screwball comedy.  In contrast, Barbara Stanwyck is wondrous (she was nominated for an Oscar, as was Billy Wilder for writing the screenplay) as the trashy nightclub singer who Cooper wants to study to collect slang for the encyclopedia he is writing with seven other professors.  She comes to live with them (á la Snow White), mostly to hide from the cops who are seeking her to testify as a witness against her gangster boyfriend (Dana Andrews).  However, because wives can’t testify against their husbands, said boyfriend is suddenly ready for marriage – but, you know, in screwball comedy, you can’t quite predict who will marry who!  The seven character actors playing the professors are fun, but director Howard Hawks has produced other screwballs with more laughs (and chaos) than this one.