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Ball of Fire

Ball of Fire (1941)

tomatometer

100

Average Rating: 8.3/10
Reviews Counted: 24
Fresh: 24 | Rotten: 0

A splendidly funny twist on the story of Snow White, Ball of Fire boasts a pair of perfect leads in Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck.

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 4
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 0

A splendidly funny twist on the story of Snow White, Ball of Fire boasts a pair of perfect leads in Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck.

audience

88

liked it
Average Rating: 4/5
User Ratings: 2,943

My Rating

Movie Info

Ball of Fire is a delightful retelling (by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett) of the "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" legend -- though strictly for grownups. Gary Cooper is the youngest of eight bookish professors authoring an encyclopedia. They find a perfect "research associate" in the curvaceous form of stripteaser Barbara Stanwyck, who (chastely) hides on the professors' domicile to escape her gangster boyfriend (Dana Andrews). As Stanwyck interprets various slang expression, she and the

Unrated, 2 hr.

Drama, Comedy

May 22, 2007

MGM

Ball of Fire Trailer & Photos

More Trailers and Videos (1)

Cast

Critic Reviews for Ball of Fire

All Critics (24) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (24) | Rotten (1) | DVD (7)

Actor Cooper plays his Mr. Deeds role with the authority of long familiarity, and Miss Stanwyck (once Ruby Stevens, of Brooklyn) is equally at home in hers.

February 4, 2009 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | Comment
TIME Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Casting is meticulously perfect to make every character a caricature of itself.

August 14, 2007 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A delight.

August 14, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Don Druker
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Mr. Cooper may be a little loose-tooth in spots, but he gives a homespun performance such as only he can give. Miss Stanwyck is plenty yum-yum (meaning scorchy) in her worldly temptress role.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times | Comment
Bosley Crowther
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

'I've gone goofy, completely goofy,' Cooper says, as the chaos of slang overwhelms his orderly vocabulary: 'Bim-buggy, slap-happy.' Watching 'Ball of Fire,' you feel similarly liberated.

February 18, 2011 Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | Comment
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

One of the best screwball comedies.

July 7, 2010 Full Review Source: Classic Film and Television | Comment
Michael E. Grost
Classic Film and Television

As the timid professor and burlesque stripper, Cooper and Stanwyck are at the top of their form in Hawks' delectable screwball comedy, based on a witty script from Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett.

June 24, 2007 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comment
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

You'd have to go to Barbara Billingsley for another jive session this enjoyable.

May 24, 2007 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Fernando F. Croce
Slant Magazine

After the rush of His Girl Friday, Ball of Fire is a more sedate ride, full of such marvelous passages as the conga line Stanwyck's delectable Sugarpuss teaches the professors.

May 24, 2007 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Fernando F. Croce
Slant Magazine

Does a fine job subverting the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs children's story.

January 31, 2006 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | Comment
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Pure joy.

January 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment
Time Out Source: Time Out

What a team: Stanwyck was rarely sexier, Cooper never more endearing. A jewel of a comedy.

August 4, 2003 Comment
James Sanford
Kalamazoo Gazette

Co-escrito por Billy Wilder e Charles Brackett, o filme tem um ótimo senso de humor, performances hilárias de todo o elenco e direção enérgica de Hawks.

July 30, 2003 Comment
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

Cooper and Stanwyck make an attractive pairing in Hawks' consistently funny romantic comedy.

May 24, 2003 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment
Film4 Source: Film4

A great screwball comedy, with Stanwyck in one of her sexiest roles.

January 30, 2003 Comment
Bob Bloom
Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Ball of Fire

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A grammarian who is toiling away at an encyclopedia meets a nightclub singer who teaches him slang.In the Hollywood's mind, making a film often involved merely pairing the two right movie stars, actors who would look good together and whose respective markets would overlap. To a large extent, that's even true now

January 16, 2012
hunterjt13
Jim Hunter

Super Reviewer

Not only is this movie hilarious, unique, and witty, but you learn a lot about slang words too. This movie is really fun, great cast and story and everything, I loved it, and I highly recommend it.

September 5, 2010
ajv2688
AJ Verser

Super Reviewer

Ball of Fire Quotes

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    1. Sugarpuss O'Shea: I love him because he's the kind of guy who gets drunk on a glass of buttermilk, and I love the way he blushes right up over his ears. I love him because he doesn't know how to kiss, the jerk!
    – Submitted by Chris P (13 months ago)

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Foreign Titles

  • Die merkwürdige Zähmung der Gangsterbraut Sugarpuss (DE)
  • Ball of Fire (1941) (UK)
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