Ball of Fire
Comedy
Romance
Crime
“I LOVE HIM because he doesn't know how to kiss—THE JERK!”
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 When one of them discovers that his entry on slang is hopelessly outdated, he ventures into the wide world to learn about the evolving language.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.
1941-12-02
en
Cast
Director
Howard Hawks
Gary Cooper as Professor Bertram Potts
Barbara Stanwyck as Sugarpuss O’Shea
Oskar Homolka as Prof. Gurkakoff
Henry Travers as Prof. Jerome
S.Z. Sakall as Prof. Magenbruch
Tully Marshall as Prof. Robinson
Leonid Kinskey as Prof. Quintana
Richard Haydn as Prof. Oddly
Aubrey Mather as Prof. Peagram
Allen Jenkins as Garbage Man
Dana Andrews as Joe Lilac
Dan Duryea as Duke Pastrami
Ralph Peters as Asthma Anderson
Kathleen Howard as Miss Bragg
Charles Lane as Larsen
Charles Arnt as McNeary
Elisha Cook Jr. as Waiter
Aldrich Bowker as Justice of the Peace
Addison Richards as District Attorney
Kenneth Howell as College Boy
Tim Ryan as Motor Policeman
Gene Krupa as Himself — Orchestra Leader
Pat West as Bum
Tommy Ryan as Newsboy
Will Lee as “Benny — the Creep”
Eddy Chandler as Cop on Garbage Truck (uncredited)
Pat Flaherty as Deputy (uncredited)
Otto Hoffman as Stage Doorman (uncredited)
Ethelreda Leopold as Nursemaid at Park (uncredited)
Lorraine Miller as Girl in Café (uncredited)
Ruth Clifford as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Lynne Roberts as Veiled Woman in Gene Krupa’s Audience (uncredited)
Russell Wade as Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
Martha Tilton as Sugarpuss O'Shea (singing voice) (uncredited)
Hal McIntyre as Saxaphonist (uncredited)
William H. O'Brien as Baseball Game Spectator (uncredited)
Jack Perry as Pool Hall Patron (uncredited)