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Ball of Fire poster

Ball of Fire

"“I LOVE HIM because he doesn't know how to kiss—THE JERK!”"

74
Audience
NR 1942 · 1h 51m
Comedy, Crime, Romance
Starring Gary Cooper · Barbara Stanwyck · Oskar Homolka
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Ball of Fire poster
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About

A group of academics have spent years shut up in a house working on the definitive encyclopedia. When one of them discovers that his entry on slang is hopelessly outdated, he ventures into the wide world to learn about the evolving language. Here he meets Sugarpuss O’Shea, a nightclub singer, who’s on top of all the slang—and, it just so happens, needs a place to stay.

Theatrical
Jan 9, 1942
DVD / Blu-ray
Aug 25, 1998
Box Office
$2.6M
Director
Howard Hawks
Writers
Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, Howard Hawks
Producer
Samuel Goldwyn
Music
Alfred Newman
Studio
Samuel Goldwyn Productions
Keywords
slang marriage proposal professor nightclub gangster research encyclopedia romcom singer us republican party mobster black and white screwball comedy conga nightclub singer interrupted wedding nightclub performer academia
Ball of Fire on the Web

Cast

Full credits →
G
Gary Cooper
Professor Bertram Potts
B
Barbara Stanwyck
Sugarpuss O’Shea
O
Oskar Homolka
Prof. Gurkakoff
H
Henry Travers
Prof. Jerome
S
S.Z. Sakall
Prof. Magenbruch
T
Tully Marshall
Prof. Robinson
L
Leonid Kinskey
Prof. Quintana
R
Richard Haydn
Prof. Oddly
A
Aubrey Mather
Prof. Peagram
A
Allen Jenkins
Garbage Man
D
Dana Andrews
Joe Lilac
D
Dan Duryea
Duke Pastrami
R
Ralph Peters
Asthma Anderson
K
Kathleen Howard
Miss Bragg
C
Charles Lane
Larsen
C
Charles Arnt
McNeary
E
Elisha Cook Jr.
Waiter
M
Mary Field
Miss Totten
E
Eddie Foster
Pinstripe
A
Aldrich Bowker
Justice of the Peace

Quotes

See all →
Encyclopedia Writers and Their Unseen Knowledge
Taglines Once upon a time—in 1941 to be exact—there lived in a great, tall forest—called New York--eight men who were writing an encyclopedia. They were so wise they knew everything. The depth of the oceans, and what makes a glowworm glow, and what tune Nero fiddled while Rome was burning. But there was one thing about which they knew very little--as you shall see...
[After the opening credits]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Learning Slang in Unexpected Love
Taglines Riotous but tender comedy of a professor so anxious to learn the slang pf a hep-cat queen that she puts his heart in a sling!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

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