Ball of Fire

The Big Bang Theory 1940s style. Compared to Hawks’s previous comedies (Bringing Up Baby, His Girl Friday), Ball of Fire has a less hectic pace, which isn’t too surprising, given that the characters aren’t half-mad or journalists. With the exception of the boisterous female element, they are dignified professors who are mindful of every syllable they utter. Issues that defy rationality (such as the opposite sex) remain outside their area of interest.  Naturally, this staid fraternity is rather thrown into disarray when a woman who doesn’t watch her mouth comes into their world. Her vocabulary and the lies that she tells shift the plot to that of a multi-layered comedy in which the lady’s violation of the 1960s rules of grammar are a greater offence than her association with the criminal underworld. The battle of the sexes, in which the forces are evenly balanced despite the numerical superiority of the men, brings about the improvement of character in the both of the main protagonists. As Gary Cooper’s familiarisation with street slang becomes more of a full-contact activity than he had originally intended, the protagonist has no choice but to learn to fight with his bare hands as well as with his words. There is no doubt that the radiant Barbara Stanwyck, who bring her legs and the rest of her body into play at every possible opportunity, is worth his efforts. The film progresses from a crazy comedy in the guise of a gangster movie to an unexpectedly serious romantic climax. For once in a Hawks film, the intellectuals don’t go solely for laughs from beginning to end, which – together with Toland’s sophisticated cinematography – I think denies Ball of Fire the right to bear the “screwball” label. Despite that, however, the film ranks among the masterpieces of classic Hollywood. 80% (07/29/2023)

A nice comedy about eight professors realizing that encyclopedic knowledge isn't everything. They discover emotions, female beauty, and simply everything that they hadn't seen through the encyclopedias they wrote until now. This could easily belong in the golden treasury for nostalgics because it's quite a charming and entertaining film. (02/14/2017)