This post is part of the My Favorite Classic Movie Blogathon in celebration of National Classic Movie Day (May 16th). Click here to view the schedule listing all the great posts.
Nerd alert: I used to sit in the basement, reading my parents’ World Books for fun. I think it started with A Tale of Two Cities. A few hours into the encyclopedia set’s entries on The French Revolution, and Sydney Carton was forgotten.
Now, of course, my addiction is Wikipedia, despite my warning students away from it with Colbert. The other day I attended a Renaissance Faire featuring a pirate show (yes, I know how ridiculous that is), just after reading about Blackbeard in The Smithsonian. The combination led me on a Wikipedia binge on female pirates.
Thus it should be no surprise that a film about professors writing an encyclopedia (and their unexpected romantic interlude with a gangster’s moll) would thrill me. I’ve already explained why Ball of Fire should be viewed by all English majors. Today I’m advocating it for history buffs as well, particularly due to one scene starring the professors, two gangsters, The Sword of Damocles, and the mirrors of Archimedes.
**Spoiler alert.**
For those who’ve never seen the film, here’s the basic plot: Sugarpuss (Barbara Stanwyck), girlfriend to gangster Joe Lilac (Dana Andrews), hides out from the D.A. in the home of the encyclopedia writers, pretending she’s there to help with Professor Potts’s (Gary Cooper’s) entry on slang. Potts falls for and proposes to her, and she (to her great shock) falls for him too. But when her scheming is exposed, Potts lets her leave with Lilac, who needs her “I do” to prevent her from testifying about his crimes.
Sugarpuss knows she’s earned Potts’s disgust, but refuses to marry Lilac, instead explaining her love for the professor. She describes his poor kissing technique, his “giraffe” fashion, and other traits that have somehow inspired her love for him.
“I’ll never see him again,” she tells Lilac, “but I’m not gonna marry you, not if you tie a ton of cement around my neck and throw me into the East River, like you did all the others.”
To force her, Lilac sends two of his henchmen, Pastrami (Dan Duryea) and Anderson (Ralph Peters), to take the professors hostage.
When Potts discovers how much Sugarpuss loves him, he wants to yodel he’s so happy. His fellow professors share in this enthusiasm, even holding down Pastrami’s gun. The gangster retorts,”Better look out, it’s gonna spit.”
At this exciting juncture, their garbage man arrives with questions on a quiz, including one about the Sword of Damocles. Professor Jerome (Henry Travers–a.k.a., Clarence of It’s a Wonderful Life) explains the legend, realizing its pertinence to their situation: A sword is suspended above the head of Damocles by just a hair, just like the portrait above Pastrami.
Jerome’s quick-witted colleagues soon catch the reason for his storytelling. Suddenly, they have a strategy–and perhaps as importantly, hope.
After Potts shares another story–Archimedes burning the Roman fleet with well-aimed mirrors–Professor Gurkakoff (Oscar Homolka) moves his microscope so that it’s catching the sunlight, and directs it at the rope above the portrait.
Potts then notices that Anderson is pitched precariously on a high chair.
He therefore refers one of his colleagues to a passage that gives him a mission once Pastrami is handled.
The approach is working. Two of the professors have spotted a carpet they’re ready to pull to topple Anderson, and the fire is burning through the rope above the picture.
Now all the professors need to do is distract the criminals’ attention from the fire. Potts insults the gangsters in a pseudo-intellectual style, beginning a nonsensical speech with “Your inferiority is a question of the bony structure of your skulls.”
Anderson is unaware how truthfully he speaks when he complains, “This mixed-up talk is giving me a headache.” Pastrami argues that guns, not smarts, make the world go round, and proves it by shooting their globe.
While this gun play has the whole room worried, it’s Pastrami’s decision to leave his chair that leads to panic. Professor Oddly proposes that Pastrami shoot a dime out of his hand, but only if he returns to his seat. Realizing the risk he’s taking, poor Oddly switches to a quarter, then a 50-cent piece. The tension in the room has obviously reached quite a pitch.
Oddly’s expression as he waits to lose his hand is priceless:
Of course, Pastrami is knocked over first.
And Anderson falls via the carpet move. Oddly faints–quite theatrically. And the professors rush off in a garbage truck to save Sugarpuss, with Potts studying boxing strategies to use against Lilac en route. With scenes as delightfully geeky and ridiculous as this one, it any wonder that this classic film remains my favorite?
I hadn’t thought of it as a nerdy scene before, but it really is!
”Better look out, it’s gonna spit.” (Scarface). Hawks gets a kick out of referencing his other films, doesn’t he? He does that sort of thing in my blogathon choice as well. (Sergeant York in The Thing from Another World). My nerdy self is going to start looking for more.
You know, I’d completely missed that! It’s been too long since I saw Scarface:) I’ve never seen Sergeant York or The Thing from Another World. I’m going to your post right now to learn more:) Leah
It’s the interplay between Sugarpuss and the professors that always draws me to this very funny film. I also like the Danny Kaye remake, though Virginia Mayo is an inadequate substitute for Barbara Stanwyck. I am curious about the pirate show at the Renaissance Faire…
True. That dancing instruction scene may be my favorite in the film:) I have never been able to bring myself to watch the remake. I really should give it a try. Wouldn’t anyone be an inadequate substitute though? Too tall an order:) The pirate show was basically a gun and canon demo, with interesting history lessons and supposed pirate language thrown in:) Thanks so much for hosting! I’m enjoying the entries so much.
Everyone seems to have way too much fun in this film, which makes it even more enjoyable for us. This is an awesome post.
Thank you! I think you’re right–the professors especially:)
I adore Ball of Fire, and I’m glad to see someone else appreciates it highly. (Someone make this required viewing for any and every English class!) Just reading your descriptions made me reenact the scene in my head–so funny.
It SHOULD be required:) I agree. It was hard to choose one. The boxing scene is another gem:)
I’d never heard of this movie before my then-roommate dragged me to a screening of it one Saturday night in Los Angeles. Afterwards, I was very happy I’d been dragged. Great review!
Thank you! You’re lucky to have had a roommate with good taste:) Leah
Excellent entry on a movie I adore. Feel free to check out my entry. The link is below
https://crystalkalyana.wordpress.com/2015/05/16/my-favorite-classic-movie-blogathon-national-classic-movie-day-may-16th-the-spiral-staircase-1946/
Thank you! I enjoyed yours. I haven’t seen The Spiral Staircase yet, but it sounds creepy and thrilling. I love Ethel Barrymore.
What a great choice, This film is pure happiness. Coop is adorable, but Stanwyck is, indeed, a ball of fire. She is just amazing. Thanks for a great post about a film that always bring s smile to my face.
I agree! It’s my favorite among her many amazing performances. She just nailed it.
I love this movie, too! Great breakdown of that amazing scene!
Thank you! I’m glad there are so many other enthusiastic supporters of this great film. Now I just have to see The More, The Merrier.
Great post! Ball of Fire one of my favorite films, certainly in my top favorite comedies. I especially enjoyed your focus on encyclopedias and Wikis as a lead-in.
Thank you! It’s nice when your time-wasting activities can lead to writing ideas:)
So glad to read that it’s not just me that goes on wikipedia binges despite swearing I never will again following the discovery of yet another ‘fact’. I have to admit that female pirates isn’t a route I’ve yet pursued, but I can’t let you suffer alone…!
I recently re-watched this, and I certainly think it’s one of my favourite Stanwyck roles. I’d forgotten how funny it is – the characters are so perfectly drawn and the chemistry is great!
She is extraordinary in it. And so much is funny. I feel like I’m discovering new things in it all the time…
Great piece! This makes me want to watch this film again. Cooper and the professors are so entertaining, and the entire situation is so daffy. As someone else also mentioned, Stanwyck truly is a ball of fire in this. Perfect role for her.
Thank you! Daffy is the PERFECT word for it:)
It is, indeed, a delightful movie – and one of my favorites as well. There are lots and lots of things to love about Ball of Fire – being th witty dialog the reason why I fell in love with it in the first place.
Thanks for the kind comment!
Le
The dialogue is perfect:) Thank you for commenting! I’m glad to find so many fellow fans:)
One of my favorites. I love this era of Barbara Stanwyck. I love nerdy intelligent men.
My favorite of her many wonderful performances:) The funny thing is how charming the non-love interests are too. All nerdy, all wonderful.
Read your profile in the recent CMBA post. When I heard you were a fan of “Ball of Fire” I just had to take a visit. It’s one of my favorite movies for many of the same reasons you like it (English major here), but I’m also a huge Stanwyck fan. She’s so underrated, in part, I think because she was a modest person; she just showed up for work. Also she was so natural and modern. None of her performances seem dated. I really would have liked her to have made another movie with Dana Andrews. They were great as gangster and moll, but her chemistry with Cooper is just hot. No other word describes the two of them together. 1941 was a great year for Stanwyck: “The Lady Eve,” “Ball of Fire,” and “Meet John Doe.” She worked with Preston Sturges, Howard Hawks, and Frank Capra (notice the serial commas?) in one year!? She could have retired and still been a movie legend. I could go on and on about Stanwyck, but I’ll stop here. Oh, wait, my new favorite Stanwyck movie is “The Miracle Woman,” a pre-code 1931 film directed by Capra. A great performance from a 24-year-old Stanwyck. Amazing! Okay, I’m done…for now.
So glad to find such a Stanwyck fan. She’s still my favorite actress. In fact, I watched Ball of Fire again last night. I loved The Miracle Woman, especially her rant near the start of the film. And how crazy fun is Baby Face? I agree that she and Andrews were a good pairing. They would have made such a fantastic noir together. I liked her with Van Heflin, who was also such an understated actor, but wish she’d been paired with better male comedians. Cary Grant-Barbara Stanwyck would be my dream pairing. I love that she had such a great reputation with all the crews of her films. It says so much about her.