Ball of Fire (1941)

We are kicking off a month of screwball comedy discussion with a look at Howard Hawks’s 1941 film Ball of Fire. Written by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, the film stars Gary Cooper as one of an octet of professors who are writing an encyclopedia. Cooper is writing an article on slang only to find that he’s very deficient. In an effort to bolster his research he comes across Sugarpuss O’Shea (Barbara Stanwyck). The moll of a vicious gangster, she’s on the lamb and holes up with the professors. And, of course, hilarity ensues.

Kat Ellinger (opens in a new tab) will be around all month. Maitland McDonagh (opens in a new tab) guest hosts on this episode and Professor Joseph McBride (opens in a new tab) dishes about his books on director Howard Hawks.