Ball of Fire( 1941)

TV-MAComedyRomanceCrime

74%

User
Score

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

Overview

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 When one of them discovers that his entry on slang is hopelessly outdated, he ventures into the wide world to learn about the evolving language.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.

Top Billed Cast

Gary Cooper
Professor Bertram Potts
Barbara Stanwyck
Sugarpuss O’Shea
Oskar Homolka
Prof. Gurkakoff
Henry Travers
Prof. Jerome
S.Z. Sakall
Prof. Magenbruch
Tully Marshall
Prof. Robinson
Leonid Kinskey
Prof. Quintana
Richard Haydn
Prof. Oddly
Aubrey Mather
Prof. Peagram
Allen Jenkins
Garbage Man
Dana Andrews
Joe Lilac
Dan Duryea
Duke Pastrami
Ralph Peters
Asthma Anderson
Kathleen Howard
Miss Bragg
Charles Lane
Larsen
Charles Arnt
McNeary
Elisha Cook Jr.
Waiter
Mary Field
Miss Totten
Alan Rhein
'Horseface'
Eddie Foster
Pinstripe
Aldrich Bowker
Justice of the Peace
Addison Richards
District Attorney
Kenneth Howell
College Boy
Tim Ryan
Motor Policeman
Gene Krupa
Himself — Orchestra Leader
Pat West
Bum
Tommy Ryan
Newsboy
Will Lee
“Benny — the Creep”
George Barton
Garbage Man (uncredited)
Doria Caron
Girl in Subway (uncredited)
Ken Christy
Cop with Ms. Bragg (uncredited)
Eddy Chandler
Cop on Garbage Truck (uncredited)
Edward Clark
Motor Court Proprietor (uncredited)
Pat Flaherty
Deputy (uncredited)
Otto Hoffman
Stage Doorman (uncredited)
Ethelreda Leopold
Nursemaid at Park (uncredited)
Lorraine Miller
Girl in Café (uncredited)
Ruth Clifford
Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Yvonne Duval
Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Joyce Matthews
Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Patsy Moran
Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Mildred Morris
Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Edward Mundy
Spieler (uncredited)
Gerald Pierce
Delivery Boy (uncredited)
Lynne Roberts
Veiled Woman in Gene Krupa’s Audience (uncredited)
Francis Sayles
Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Helen Seamon
College Girl (uncredited)
George Sherwood
Deputy (uncredited)
Walter Shumway
Garbage Man (uncredited)
Bert Stevens
Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
Russell Wade
Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
Chalky Williams
Cop (uncredited)
Martha Tilton
Sugarpuss O'Shea (singing voice) (uncredited)
John Alban
Baseball Game Spectator (uncredited)
Tex Brodus
Passerby (uncredited)
Chet De Vito
Tollkeeper (uncredited)
Roy Eldridge
Trumpeter (uncredited)
Geraldine Fissette
Hula Dancer (uncredited)
Laura Gile
Date of Prof. Bertram Potts (uncredited)
George Golden
Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
Catherine Henderson
College Girl (uncredited)
June Horne
Nursemaid at Park (uncredited)
Merrillee Lannon
Girl in Subway (uncredited)
Jean MacMurray
Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Hal McIntyre
Saxaphonist (uncredited)
Mike Morelli
Pool Hall Patron (uncredited)
William H. O'Brien
Baseball Game Spectator (uncredited)
Jack Perry
Pool Hall Patron (uncredited)

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A review by CinemaSerf

Written by CinemaSerf on Sat Jun 25 2022

This is a cracking little comedy with Gary Cooper as the unlikely boffin "Prof. Potts" who, alongside a group of equally eminent academics has been working on an encyclopaedia for the previous 9 years - and they've only got to "S". Enter the mailman who is doing a radio quiz just as our professor is concluding his section on slang - only for him to realise that their studious isolation has left them so out of touch as to render his slang definition worthless. Off he sets into the city to learn more where he alights on night-club singer "Sugarpuss O'Shea" (Barbara Stanwyck) and her colleagues wh...