Ball of Fire
Directed by Howard Hawks. 111mins. (1941)
Gary Cooper - Prof. Bertram Potts
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 When one of them discovers that his entry on slang is hopelessly outdated, he ventures into the wide world to learn about the evolving language.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.
Also starring Barbara Stanwyck, Oskar Homolka, Henry Travers, Richard Haydn and Dana Andrews.
Classic screwball comedy .Partly based on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, with 7 eccentric professors representing the dwarfs. To pick up authentic slang for the film script, screenwriters Billy Wilderand Charles Brackett visited the drugstore across the street from Hollywood High School, a burlesque house and the Hollywood Park racetrack.
Nominated for 4 Oscars