Sunday, January 22, 2012

Wedding Bell Wackiness Double-Feature: BALL OF FIRE and OSCAR

This post is being published as part of the CMBA Comedy Classics Blogathon from January 22nd to 27th, 2012.

Love is a funny thing, especially in the movies, so Vinnie and I have donned our Team Bartilucci romantic screwball comedy caps to spotlight two of our favorites!

Dorian’s Pick: Ball of Fire (1941)

“Once upon a time — in 1941 to be exact — there lived in a great, tall forest — called New York — eight men who were writing an encyclopedia. They were so wise they knew everything: The depth of the oceans, and what makes a glowworm glow, and what tune Nero fiddled while Rome was burning. But there was one thing about which they knew very little — as you shall see…”



How could I not fall in love with Ball of Fire (BoF)? To borrow a line from Foul Play, it was fate, Fergie — kismet! The star team of Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck, reunited from Meet John Doe that same year, was a tantalizing draw, plus I’m a sucker for stories set in my hometown, New York City. But I was also interested in BoF because I like comedies about characters who appreciate wordplay and learning (Pygmalian/My Fair Lady, anyone?). I’ve loved reading, writing, and generally having fun with the English language ever since I learned to read at the age of three (during a family vacation in the Bahamas, but that’s a story for another time). My older siblings used to show me off by having me read passages from The New York Times out loud; granted, I didn’t always understand what all the words meant, but somehow I figured out what they sounded like phonetically. For another thing, on an even more personal note, BoF’s sassy heroine Katherine O’Shea goes by the name “Sugarpuss,” or “Shugie” for short. As luck would have it, our daughter Siobhan’s nickname happens to be “Shugie”!  (For the record, “Shugie” is pronounced like “sugar” ending with “ee” instead of “er.” For those of you who’ve never heard the name “Siobhan,” it’s pronounced “shuh-VON.” Those who pronounce it ‘SIGH-oh-ban’ will be asked to leave the Internet.) Mind you, this was long before we watched and loved BoF; up till then, we had nicknamed Siobhan “Shugie” in honor of Shaggy’s baby sister on the animated TV series A Pup Named Scooby-Doo (yet another story for yet another time. We’ve got a million of ’em)! Our Shugie thought the name “Sugarpuss O’Shea” was the most hilarious name she’d ever heard!

Professor Potts digs NYC’s sub(way)culture!
Taking good notes for research is important!
Sweetening the entertainment pot further, other talented people behind BoF included director Howard Hawks; Samuel Goldwyn, producing BoF for RKO; screenwriters Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, who based their story on Wilder and Thomas Monroe’s From A to Z; and versatile Director of Photography Gregg Toland, who got an Oscar nomination that year for Citizen Kane. To qualify for the 1941 Academy Awards, BoF played a week-long engagement in Los Angeles, then officially opened at the Radio City Music Hall in January 1942. Set in the then-contemporary New York City of 1941, BoF is a breezy comic take on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (more about that shortly). In New York City’s Central Park, we meet our hero Professor Bertram Potts (Cooper in lovable naïf mode), the youngest of eight brilliant, endearing professors taking a constitutional in Central Park on the first sunny spring day of the season. Prof. Potts’ colleagues are played by a great cast of beloved character actors: Oskar Homolka (Hitchcock’s Sabotage and the Harry Palmer spy thrillers Funeral in Berlin and Billion Dollar Brain) as Prof. Gurkakoff; Henry Travers (Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt, It’s a Wonderful Life) as Prof. Jerome; S.Z. “Cuddles” Sakall (Casablanca, Wonder Man) as Prof. Magenbruch; Tully Marshall (Scarface, Grand Hotel) as Prof. Robinson; Leonid Kinskey (Duck Soup and The Man with the Golden Arm, and he’s a Casablanca alumnus, too) as Prof. Quintana; Aubrey Mather as Prof. Peagram (Jane Eyre, The Song of Bernadette); and Prof. Oddly (Team Bartilucci fave Richard Haydn, known for voicing animated characters as well as his supporting roles in live-action films). These men have virtually cloistered themselves in the house they all share at The Daniel S. Totten Foundation. They’re in their ninth year of writing their encyclopedia of slang. Man, these boys need to get out more! More to the point, they need to get their slang encyclopedia finished pronto, because even though Miss Totten (Mary Field from The Dark Corner and Dark Passage — so much dark in such a lighthearted movie!) has a crush on Potts, the Foundation’s lawyer Larsen (veteran character actor Charles Lane, back when he was actually young!) is pressuring our boys to “slap it together” and finish already. Potts firmly replies that “we are not the slapping-together kind…If our work goes slowly, it’s because the world goes so fast.” Well, Potts and company had better hang onto their hats, because their world is about to go a whole lot faster, not to mention funnier! (By the way, there isn’t a real-life toaster inventor named Daniel S. Totten that we know of, though there are electric toasters!) Fun Fact: According to the TCM Web site, Wilder and Brackett picked up authentic slang for the script by visiting the drugstore across the street from Hollywood High School; a burlesque house; and the Hollywood Park racetrack.
 
The happiest fellas in Brainiac Land!
Just as our eight professors aren’t seven height-challenged miners pitted against a wicked witch and a poisoned apple, nor is our heroine a sweet, demure princess. Instead, we have beautiful, brassy nightclub entertainer Sugarpuss O’Shea, a.k.a. Shugie (Stanwyck). She’s introduced to us in smart, snappy style, performing “Drum Boogie” (her singing was dubbed by Martha Tilton, bandleader Tommy Dorsey’s lead singer), accompanied by the great drummer Gene Krupa (as himself)! Seems the D.A. is convinced that Shugie’s gangster beau Joe Lilac (Dana Andrews, before Laura made him a star at 20th Century-Fox) just might have knocked off one of his fellow hoods. Ol’ John Law wants Shugie for questioning, since the D.A. has an incriminating receipt for a pair of pajamas she’d once given him as a gift. With a “subpeeny” nipping at her heels, Sugarpuss goes on the lam, and we don’t mean the Little-Bo-Peep kind! But Lilac’s henchmen Duke Pastrami (Dan Duryea) and Asthma Anderson (Ralph Peters) see the business card from Potts that Shugie had left behind after initially nixing his invitation to join his slang symposium. The thugs get ideas: first, if Lilac marries Shugie, he’ll be safe because as Mrs. Lilac, she wouldn’t be able to testify against him. Second, who’d think to look for Shugie in a quaint old house infested with bookworms? Asthma and Pastrami give Shugie incentive to go along with their scheme by giving her a ring with a diamond almost as big as the one at Yankee Stadium! Potts and his colleagues are plenty book-smart, but something tells me they’ll also be street-smart by the time Shugie gets through with them!
If Shugie’s the new neighborhood Avon Lady, we’ll take one of everything!
BoF’s sprightly plot and snappy patter had me smiling from the start. Cooper and Stanwyck have marvelous chemistry together as Shugie shakes up Potts and Company’s scholarly existence for the better. While the versatile Stanwyck is always awesome in both dramas (such as my own favorite, Double Indemnity) and comedies, I particularly enjoy seeing her funny flag fly in films like BoF and The Lady Eve. It’s a joy to see Stanwyck’s impeccable comic timing in BoF, and it doesn’t hurt that she’s as beautiful as she is hilarious. With Edith Head costuming her, whether Stanwyck is wearing sequins or a simple shirtwaist dress, you can’t take your eyes off her, especially with the confident, panther-like way she walks. I was touched at the sight of “Potsie’s” modest engagement ring above Joe Lilac’s huge rock, undoubtedly the best ring Potts could afford on his academic salary, bless him. His proposal to Shugie touched me even more, especially: “Dust piles on our hearts, and it took you to blow it away.” Shugie finds herself growing increasingly fond of her “eight wise idiots,” and slowly but surely falling in love with Potts and regretting her commitment to Lilac and the con job she agreed to.

Mr. Looper, er, Hooper, lilac’s not really your color!
But the professors climbing out of their ivory tower aren’t the only outstanding supporting character actors in BoF. There’s Will Lee as Benny the Creep, one of Lilac’s henchmen, long before he became the beloved Mr. Hooper on TV’s Sesame Street; Charles Arnt from My Favorite Brunette as Lilac’s lawyer; and Allen Jenkins (his many roles included George Sanders’ sidekick in the Falcon films and the voice of Officer Dibble on Hanna-Barbera’s animated series Top Cat, another Team Bartilucci fave) as a garbage man who enlists the professors’ help in winning a radio quiz show so he can take his sweetie out on the town — but let him tell you in his own words as Potts tries to keep up with all these new-to-him words and phrases:
“We’ll be steppin’, me and the smooch, I mean the dish, I mean the mouse, you know, hit the jiggles for a little rum boogie?...Brother, we’re gonna have some hoy-toy-toy!” In turn, the delighted professors roar, “Hoy-toy-toy!” The garbage man adds, “If you want that one explained, go ask your papa.”
 As Miss Bragg, Kathleen Howard is the very model of an uptight, narrow-minded den mother type who, to slightly paraphrase a line from Witness for the Prosecution, has just had an egg-beater thrown into the wheels of her Victorian household. Miss Bragg may mean well in her stick-up-the-butt way, but I couldn’t help hoping someone would belt her one, so I couldn’t help approving when Shugie did just that — that is, until I read on the TCM Web site that while shooting the fight scene with Howard, Stanwyck accidentally connected too hard with a punch and broke Ms. Howard’s jaw — yikes! Just goes to show sometimes it’s unwise to go too far for your art!

Is this what they mean by “stopping on a dime”?
Of all the lovable professors, the one I found myself most fond of was Richard Haydn’s Prof. Oddly, who gets so into whatever he’s examining that the other professors have to whistle for him like a dog. A widower, Prof. Oddly is the only one of the group who’s been married. When Shugie and the professors set off for New Jersey for the wedding, unaware that Lilac and his goons are setting the boys up, it leads to a funny and truly touching scene as Prof. Oddly suggests fatherly advice to Potsie, sharing his fond remembrances of happy times with his late wife Genevieve and the popular old song by that name, with all the professors poignantly singing along. With the help of a loose room number on the motel room door, it leads beautifully to both comedy and sweet love, though not without bumps along the way. It all ends in our guys dashing (in every sense) in top hats and tails to New Jersey to save the girl and the day in a finale that only our astute octet could have pulled off, and it had me cheering! It’s no wonder that, according to the TCM Web site, BoF ended up being the 25th highest-grossing film of 1942, taking in $2.2 million at the box office (which was serious coin back then). Between the success that year of both BoF and the Oscar-winning Sergeant York (1941), it was a mighty fine year for Gary Cooper, who ranked seventh at the box office for 1941 — no small feat considering all the films available back then, decades before TV and so many other forms of entertainment created competition for fans’ attention. Another Fun Fact: In 1942, Barbara Stanwyck joined her Remember the Night co-star Fred MacMurray for a radio version of BoF broadcast on Lux Radio Theatre in 1942, and of course, they would eventually reunite for Double Indemnity and There’s Always Tomorrow. On a related note, as a fan of Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo, I’d like to check out A Song is Born, their musical remake with Hawks, even though I hear it’s not as good as the original. I sympathize; improving on the perfection of BoF is a tall order indeed!

Things that make you go "Yum-yum!"


Nothing perks up symposiums like a conga!
One ring to rule them all, one ring to bind her!


Before Witness for the Prosecution’s Monocle Test, there was Prof. Gurkakoff’s Reflector Test!


Hope is the thing with feathers — perfect for tickle torture!



Vinnie's Pick: Oscar (1991)



To simplify greatly, there are three types of people; those who have never seen Oscar, those who love Oscar, and those who have never forgiven John Landis for Vic Morrow, and refuse to give any of his work since a fair viewing.

It's a comedy, something that star Sylvester ("Stop or My Mom Will Shoot") Stallone is not well known for. Specifically it's a screwball farce, based on a French film from 1967 Director John Landis and his writing team turned it into a period piece, following many of its trappings religiously. It takes place largely in one location, the palatial residence of gangster Angelo "Snaps" Provolone, who has promised his father (a hiLARious cameo by Kirk Douglas) that he'd go straight. On one madcap day as he prepares to invest in a bank and fulfill his promise, he learns that his head accountant "Little" Anthony Rossano (Vincent Spano) is in love with his daughter, Lisa (Marisa Tomei) (except he's not), who is pregnant from another man, the titular Oscar, their chauffeur (except she's not), planned to marry her off to his dialect coach, Dr. Thornton Poole (Tim Curry) who is also in love with her (except he's not), and at random times, 100,000 dollars plays a shell game among three black satchels that make their way about the house.

Snaps, Connie, and Aldo  keep it all in the Family
Landis keeps the film going at a breakneck pace - characters and situations fly in and out of the house at ramming speed, the dialogue is fast and laced with period slang ("Nix the underwear, Doc, it never happened"). With all the questionable characters (and black bags) that come and go, it's no surprise Lt. Toomey (Kurtwood Smith, a guy who's a LOT better at being funny than people realize - we're still all remembering Clarence Boddicker) is sure something's up in the Provolone home. Like so many tributes to past genres, it's as good as you remember 1930s madcap comedies were, but so few actually were. Another recent example is Down With Love, which featured more bedroom comedy tropes per capita than any actual films of the genre.

The meat of the plot is from the French original, the comedy of errors about the people in love and the bags, but Landis added a whole layer of comedy by making it a comedic Prohibition-era period piece. Lots of wordplay comedy, many new characters, and the whole plot about the bankers and Lt. Toomey's insistence that things are not as they appear. And oh, those bags... A classic plot point of comedies, whether used as the McGuffin to get the spies after the wrong guy, or a devious way to hide the diamonds, it's been seen in endless films, in recent years, most famously What's Up Doc?

Lisa and Thornton's budding romance
is by the book!
Both Stallone and Landis surrounded themselves with friends - there's lots of folks in the film who'd worked with one or the other in past films. Peter Reigert and Mark Metcalf return from Animal House, as does scoremeister Elmer Bernstein. As opposed to the tack they took in Animal House, where Bernstein wrote a deliberately serious score that worked perfectly against the on-screen goings on, they went for a patently comedic soundtrack here, based on the opera The Barber of Seville.

A couple of important first major breaks in the film as well - It's Marisa Tomei's first major role, and while she got a Razzie for it, The Wife and I knew right away we'd be hearing from her again, and I don't mean a postcard. One year later she grabbed an ACTUAL Oscar for her role in My Cousin Vinny. Similarly, lovable lunkhead Connie was played to slack-faced perfection by Chazz Palmintieri, who just a year before had played a very different kind of mobster in his self-written one-man play A Bronx Tale. Combining this with similarly comedic gunsel Cheech in Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway, and he quickly became one of our favorite comedic gangster actors. So when we later saw him in things like The Usual Suspects and the film version of A Bronx Tale, we were blown away by the diametric opposite performances.

"So, boss, which satchel has the secret
Government underwear?"
Tim Curry had just premiered his older, slightly puffier look in the previous year's The Hunt For Red October, and had already shown staggering ability for madcap comedy in another sadly underappreciated film, Clue. His timing here is flawless, his face a wild set of earnest expressions and a perfect upper-class twit of a voice.
But in honesty, the shining jewel of performances is Stallone himself. In later comedic performances like Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, he's more parodying himself, but here he plays a note-perfect comedic gangster in the Damon Runyon tradition. He shares the screen with some heavy hitters, but holds his own expertly. "Snaps" remains exasperated throughout, and some of his best lines are when his emotions get the better of him. As he tries to explain a small part of his day to his wife Sofia (Ornella Muti), including mention of a daughter Theresa, she responds "We don't HAVE a daughter Theresa!", to which he gaspingly replies, "Do you think I don't KNOW that?"

Going to the chapel and they're gonna get married...
Few films got as bad a rap as this one in its time. In those pre-Internet days, it was able to be the number-one film for two weeks before the reviews started making the rounds and and people suddenly were educated as to how bad a film it was. It's gained a big following thanks to video, one it seriously deserves. See it.
Expeditiously.

53 comments:

  1. Okay, Team B - batting 1000 for Ball of Fire - love this movie - it is just perfect. Barbara can do no wrong in comedy and Cooper is just great (though it's a little hard to believe that he just doesn't know how really yum-yum he is). As for Oscar - well, maybe it's a guy thing...
    Great post,guys.

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    1. FlickChick, Rick, I'm answering both of you in one response because, to my surprise and delight, you both sent your replies at virtually the same time! I'm flattered and thankful for your enthusiastic praise. Thanks a million; you guys are the best! FlickChick, I had to smile when you mentioned Cooper not knowing how "yum-yum" he really is. Believe it or not, I've known quite a few people, both men and women, who definitely fall into the yum-yum-but-doesn't-know-it category! But hey, it's better than having them be arrogant and pompous, right? :-)

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  2. Dorian, I watched BALL OF FIRE recently and was therefore delighted to see that you noted the contributions of the marvelous supporting cast, especially Oscar Holmoka, Henry Travers, and (my fave) S.Z. Sakall. The film, like Sugar, mixes sweetness with a bit of an edge (Dan Duryea is mean!). I also like A SONG IS BORN; Virginia Mayo may not be up fully up for Barbara's good-bad girl, but Danny Kaye is in fine form. Vinnie, I neither like nor dislike OSCAR--but I do give Sly credit for trying some different at that point in his career. Plus, I enjoyed your review!

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    1. Rick, thanks so much; Vinnie and I are both delighted that you enjoyed our reviews! We of Team B. love character actors almost more than the big iconic movie stars, with all the unique nuances the character actors usually bring to the party. In fact, I've always felt that even the best big-star actors shine even more brightly when they're acting opposite terrific character actors. With both BALL OF FIRE and OSCAR, the wonderful character actors get to really show their stuff.

      I'm also pleased to hear someone say nice things about the BALL OF FIRE remake A SONG IS BORN, because I adore Danny Kaye (when the heck will he be rediscovered by today's viewers?), and I've always thought he and Virginia Mayo were a wonderful star team. Mayo has played tougher characters in films like WHITE HEAT, though I agree that her brand of movie toughness is different from Barbara Stanwyck.

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  3. Excellent reviews, guys (along with some well-chosen photos). The names in Ball of Fire are hilarious, aren't they? Sugarpuss O'Shea, Joe Lilac, Professor Oddly, Duke Pastrami, Asthma Anderson...it's like a Warner Brothers cartoon. Somehow I never get tired of watching Stanwyck reluctantly falling for the good guy, no matter how many times she does it (Ball of Fire, The Lady Eve, Remember the Night, etc.). I think you're right for singling out the parts of Ball of Fire that are really quite touching--it's a movie that really is fond of its characters. Nothing mean-spirited about it.

    I'm not familiar with Oscar but I'll take the recommendation into account. And I love Clue, one of my rainy day movies.

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  4. Speaking of yum yum both of these films have some nice female yum yum for the guys...Stanwyck and a young Marisa Tomei. BALL OF FIRE is great fun with a marvelous cast. Your essay captures the wacky essence of the film. Being a major Billy Wilder fan, I easily hear his cadence in the script. As for OSCAR, I found it surprisingly entertaining but would hold back on calling it a good comedy, if that makes sense. That said, I enjoyed both these reviews and they get the blogathon off to a great start!

    John

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    1. John, OSCAR may not necessarily be a flawless comedy, but we of Team B. adore it all the same! :-) And yes, Vin and I wholeheartedly agree that young pre-Oscar Marisa Tomei and 1941 Barbara Stanwyck were chock full of yum-yum! (Heck, Tomei is still quite the hottie even now, in our opinion.)

      I agree with you that Billy Wilder's writing style does indeed come through, and I'm delighted and flattered that you felt BoF my blog post "capture(d) the wacky essence of the film," as Wilder is one of my writing/director heroes! Thanks for your enthusiastic praise, John! I'm looking forward to your contribution to the blogathon!

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  5. Rachel, beaucoup thanks from both Vinnie and me for your praise of our BALL OF FIRE/OSCAR double-feature! You're a gal after my own heart; the BoF characters' names won my heart first. What can I say, I'm a sucker for Runyonesque names! :-) You're right, BoF DOES feel like a Warner Bros. cartoon, and a Warner Bros. live-action film, for that matter. In some ways, both BoF and OSCAR remind me of one of my Warners faves, ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT, which I've discussed here before. Since I've been a Looney Tunes fan since I was a tot, that gave me yet another reason to love BoF! Most of all, as you noted, all the good guys in BoF really do touch our hearts even while they're tickling our collective funny-bones. The only characters who are mean-spirited are the bad guys, who deserve what they get!

    Glad to hear you're a CLUE fan, too; Tim Curry's hilarious 10-minute re-enactment of the entire film near the end is worth the price of admission (so to speak) by itself! If you love CLUE, I think you'd really enjoy OSCAR if you give it a chance (it doesn't hurt that both those films feature Tim Curry :-)). Thanks for joining the conversation, Rachel; we're happy to have you drop by TotED anytime!

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  6. Dorian, Loved your take on BOF . I'll have to take Vinny's word on Oscar, (I'm not a big Sly fan).BTW I love the boys using garbarge trucks as the means of rescue , only Hawks and Wilder could come up with that.
    A Song is Born sure is not BOF, Howard Hawks HATED IT. To borrow a album line from Frank Zappa, He' was only in it for the money.

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    1. Paul 2, glad to see you back among us; it's been a while! The great thing about OSCAR is that you don't necessarily have to be a Sly Stallone fan to enjoy it, as he is not only funny himself, but he's also surrounded by so many terrific comedic actors in this movie! :-) As for the unquestionably brilliant BALL OF FIRE, I loved the garbage truck denouement, too; now that's what I call "taking out the trash!" :-)

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  7. Dorian, I love Ball of Fire and Babs Stanwyck. She could play any type of role in any type of film, but she excelled in bad girl roles. I think this has a lot to do with her dancing years--she owns any role where she knows she's supposed to be the sexiest thing in the room. Loved reading your review. And, who would't want be called Sugarpuss? LOL!!!

    Vinnie: liked reading your review of Oscar, but I am in the camp that doesn't like this film. IMO, Stallone just doesn't do comedy well--he looks like he's working when it should come natural.

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    1. Kim, I'm delighted to hear you're a fellow admirer of BALL OF FIRE and "Babs"! :-) The amazing Ms. Stanwyck really does make you feel like you know her, whether she's playing the heroine or the bad girl. You nailed it when you said, "...she owns any role where she knows she's supposed to be the sexiest thing in the room...And who wouldn't want to be called Sugarpuss?"! I LOL, too! As for OSCAR, even if it's not your slug of Scotch, we're glad you enjoyed Vin's affectionate review! Thanks for hanging out with us and joining the conversation; you're welcome any time!

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  8. Fun movie and a fun post. These eight professors are so much more charming than Wikipedia.

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    1. Jacqueline, many thanks for your praise of BALL OF FIRE! I completely agree about those lovable professors; wish I'd had more teachers like that when I was in college! :-) I'm looking forward to reading and enjoying your MORE THAN A SECRETARY blog post later today!

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  9. My, but it was fun watching "Ball of Fire" with you, Dorian.

    One of these days one of us is going to figure out how many classic movies featured the song "Genevieve". One of these days.

    There is a lot to enjoy about "A Song is Born". The music cannot be beat, plus, Mary Field reprises the role of Miss Totten and Gregg Toland is again behind the camera. It does lack that charm that permeates "Ball of Fire" and they omit my favourite line ("It's as red as The Daily Worker and just as sore."), but it's fast-paced and entertaining and the music cannot be beat (did I say that?).

    "Oscar" has completely passed me by. I think the 1991 release date must have something to do with it. Kid #1 was just born and I was expecting kid #2. Things are sort of blurry now, but I recall being somewhat busy at the time. Vinnie, your description of Stallone's performance has made this one I am interested in checking out.

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  10. I love/love this film with Gary Cooper, who played a funny, sexy, nerd perfectly. Barbara Stanwyck, was also perfect as the wise-cracking singer/gang moll. My favorite scene in the film, is when she is singing in the night club "Drum Boogie” with the handsome drummer Gene Krupa!

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    1. Dawn, you're absolutely right about Gary Cooper's charming portrayal of "a funny, sexy, nerd." As far as I'm concerned, funny, sexy nerds rule! :-) And yes, the "Drum Boogie" scene is definitely one of my favorite BoF scenes. Wow, Gene Krupa was hot!

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  11. Caftan Woman, you put a big smile on my face with your opening comment "My, but it was fun watching 'Ball of Fire' with you, Dorian"! That's the beauty of the Internet and blogging; even when you and our other blogger buds can't be in close physical proximity, technology brings us all together to enjoy BALL OF FIRE and so many other good things and people! LOL over your "blurry" recollection of the birth of "kid #2"! (Vinnie loves to tell the story of our real-life Shugie's wacky birth, but we'll spare you the details for now! :-))

    Believe it or not, I actually first heard "Genevieve" as a parody in one of my favorite Looney Tunes cartoons, Chuck Jones' "The Dover Boys" (a.k.a. "The Dover Boys at Pimento University, or "The Rivals of Roquefort Hall"), in which the school fight song for "Old P.U." is actually sung to the tune of "Genevieve"!

    Thanks for the info about A SONG IS BORN! Despite the overall mixed reviews, eventually I intend to watch it at least to satisfy my completist side as a loyal Danny Kaye fan. Always glad to have you drop by, CW!

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  12. I had to think for a minute.. I'm one of those people who falls into the group that has never seen the film, Oscar. I think it would be interesting to see Sly in a comedy.

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    1. Dawn, I think you'd enjoy OSCAR; it's zany, good-natured fun, and an affectionate tip of the hat to the screwball comedies of yore, with Stallone heading a great cast who make the funny look easy. Its 1930s-style costumes by Deborah Nadoolman are gorgeous, too! If/when you have a chance to see OSCAR, I'd love to hear what you think.

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  13. A: An amalgamation of fun info and juicy tidbits...thanks so much.
    B: Beatific review of the Genevieve scene: it's always moved me.
    C: Cuddles. Need we say more?
    D: Danny Kaye is one of my Hollywood Boyfriends, so I'll have to get Song is Born and view it thru this lens.
    E: Excellent, sistah!
    Go to the head of the class!
    Warmly, Kay
    www.moviestarmakeover.com

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    1. Kay, I see you're going from A to E! :-) Thanks for the diploma, and beaucoup thanks for your alphabetical rave review of my BALL OF FIRE post! I'm also thrilled that my hero Danny Kaye is "one of (your) Hollywood Boyfriends." Clearly, you've got excellent taste in classic movie stars -- you're our kind of gal!

      Speaking of Danny Kaye, if you're interested, here's a link to a TotED review of one of my favorite Kaye classics, THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY:

      http://doriantb.blogspot.com/2011/02/secret-life-of-walter-mitty-beautiful.html

      Hey, if anyone here hasn't yet checked out Kay's terrific MOVIE STAR MAKEOVER blog, what are you waiting for? :-) Here's that link again:

      http://www.moviestarmakeover.com

      Thanks, Kay, and feel free to drop by TotED anytime!

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  14. Our awesome fellow blogger Brandie Ashe of TRUE CLASSICS fame has been trying to post a comment about BALL OF FIRE, but, as she explains here:

    "Dorian, I've been trying to post a comment on your blog for the past ten minutes and it's giving me fits, so I'm just going to paste it here!

    Really enjoyed reading your combined thoughts on these two films! I have to admit, I'm with FlickChick on this one ... I've never grasped the appeal of Oscar. But Ball of Fire is just plain brilliant. What else could you expect when you put Billy Wilder and Barbara Stanwyck together? And it's one of the few roles of Cooper's that I actually enjoy (sorry, Gary, but the whole laconic cowpoke thing isn't a particular turn-on for me).

    Grr! Bad computer!

    Brandie :)"

    We're glad you enjoyed our posts, Brandie, and it's OK if you don't love OSCAR like Team B. does; knowing you love BALL OF FIRE is good enough for us! :-) Thanks for your positive feedback, and feel free to drop by TotED anytime! Hope your computer behaves, too!

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  15. With BALL OF FIRE we have perhaps my favorite Barbara Stanwyck film (and in a tie with FRIENDLY PERSUASION for my favorite Gary Cooper film). It certainly helps that Stanwyck is at the top of her considerable game in this production: not only performing 150% but looking especially luminous and desirable (and more than a touch brassy) without overly vamping it up. And, as I prefer Cooper in his occasional comic outings, his underplaying of Stanwyck's role dovetailed as nicely as the characters themselves eventually ended up doing (the scene when his character learns which engagement ring Sugarpuss is one of my favorites).

    (Of course there might've been reasons other than talent at work here. I sometimes wonder if, standing at 5'5", Stanwyck was chosen simply to emphasize how long a drink of water the 6'3" Cooper was? You included a still of Stanwyck having to stand on a pile of books in order to kiss Cooper . . . a scene which sort of adds a new dimension to the term "tall in the saddle".)

    And as you mentioned, Dorian, BALL OF FIRE is a treat for character actor fans. In fact, the film could be considered a textbook example of how to stuff several character actors into a movie. Then again, Hawks was no schlep (and those Wilder and Brackett boys could write a fair stick).

    Oh, and in regards to A SONG IS BORN: see it if you must. But Virginia Mayo is no Barbara Stanwyck (and the musical venue always spoiled the story for me).

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    1. Michael, my friend, I'm pleased though not at all surprised that with your quick wit, tender heart, and fondness for memorable character actors, you too are a big fan of Barbara Stanwyck and BALL OF FIRE! You and Vinnie and I are definitely on the same page (no pun intended) regarding our favorite aspects of BoF. Also, good point about the possibility of Stanwyck and Gary Cooper being chosen as much for their size difference as their fine chemistry; as you've surely guessed, I've always gotten a kick out of that scene where Sugarpuss has to climb on top of two thick hardcover books to give Potts a little "yum-yum!" I'd even go so far as to say BoF is one of the most perfect comedies ever made! But for the sake of completism at least, I'd still like to see A SONG IS BORN at least once, just to give the flick a fair shake; the force of Danny Kaye's overall niftiness is strong with this one! :-)

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  16. If Vinnie has settled on OSCAR out of all the romantic comedies available then I must make it a point to watch the film sometime to try and see what his discerning eye has found. Apparently no thickness of enamel could conceal . . . wait. Wrong movie. Sorry.

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    1. Michael, Vinnie and I should clarify that when it comes to Team Bartilucci's unswerving fondness for OSCAR, though there are romantic comedy elements in it, we love OSCAR most for its zany, madcap comedy. OSCAR may not be THE MALTESE FALCON, but we feel certainly has the stuff that hilarious comedy is made of! :-)

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  17. Can't add too much about "Ball of Fire" that hasn't already been said, but it's one of my favorites. The chemistry between Cooper and Stanwyck is amazing and can't be bottled, otherwise all pairings would be this good.

    I remember liking "Oscar" quite a bit, but not loving it. Sounds like its worth a second viewing. I remember being surprised to see Kirk Douglas in it as I thought there was bad blood between him and Stallone after Douglas left his role in "First Blood" after complaining about the script. (He was replaced by Richard Crenna). But Stallone showed up at the AFI Tribute to Kirk Douglas, so I guess the disagreement wasn't personal.

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  18. Kevin, we absolutely agree that "The chemistry between Cooper and Stanwyck is amazing and can't be bottled, otherwise all pairings would be this good." Wouldn't it be great if all actors could magically have instant chemistry? :-) And thanks for the tidbit about Richard Crenna having replaced OSCAR co-star Kirk Douglas in FIRST BLOOD; it's always interesting to hear what went on behind the scenes. Thanks for joining the conversation, Kevin; drop by anytime!

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  19. Fabulous post, Dorian and Vinnie. While I'm familiar with the endearing BALL OF FIRE (LOVE the professors and Gary Cooper's hapless persona) and adore Barbara Stanwyck (I mean, who doesn't?) I have never seen OSCAR, nor do I think I've ever heard of it...Though perhaps my mom and pop had a copy at one time. There's a vague memory trying to break free in my frazzled brain.

    At any rate, the professors in BOF remind me of the seven dwarfs in SNOW WHITE. They almost serve the same purpose.

    Hey, Charles Lane was never young - he was born old. Ha!

    I will promise to try and get around to watching OSCAR when I have a moment. You make it sound so fun. :)

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  20. Yvette, with your superb taste in art and movies and overall coolness, I should have known you'd be a BALL OF FIRE fan, too! Aren't these mutual admiration societies fun? :-) You're exactly right with your comparison of the 8 professors with Snow White's 7 dwarfs; apparently that's what writers Billy Wilder and Thomas Monroe had in mind, clever boys! Vinnie and I have always thought Charles Lane was born old, bless him; BoF is the first time I've ever seen him anywhere near young!

    Hope you get to see OSCAR; it's on DVD and it turns up on cable every so often. For Vinnie and me, it's one of those movies which, if we happen to find it on TV, we virtually drop everything and just sit back and enjoy the wackiness! Hope you have a chance to watch and enjoy it, too, my friend!

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  21. D and V, I’m sorry I missed your post yesterday but it is certainly worth the wait. I can’t help thinking that in the case of BoF; it could not have looked like much on paper. A young hoochie dancer with ties to the underworld meets eight sheltered and studious men and finds true love in the end. The studio higher-ups must have been scratching their heads, but the film works on every level. Barbara Stanwyck is incandescent, Gary Cooper could do no wrong, and as you mentioned, the cast is full of familiar faces we’ve grown to love over the years. Great background information: I always wondered who provided the voice when Shugie sang, and can you believe Babs could pack such a wallop.

    I noticed a bit of a theme; both BoF and Oscar have comic portrayals of gangsters. I’ll admit that I fall into the “have never seen it” group, but I have never seen “Johnny Dangerously”, either. I’ve gotta say, any character with the last name Provolone certainly wins for originality, and a chance to see Tim Curry in a suit (sans lingerie) is just a bonus. Your reference to Damon Runyonesque characters sounds fitting, these are the characters that floated through my mind as a read your description of “Oscar” and company. Thanks to you both for new insights into both an old and perhaps a new favorite.

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  22. whistlinggypsy, no worries, it's never too late to catch up with blog posts! :-) Thanks for your kind words; Vinnie and I are delighted that you enjoyed Team B.'s double-feature of BALL OF FIRE and OSCAR! Ironically, when we first conceived this double-bill, we initially focused on each film involving attempted marriage, but it was your remarks that really hit home the gangster themes, you clever gal -- pat yourself on the back! :-)

    I've always been a sucker for Runyonesque characters, probably from a combination of growing up in NYC and my late dad being a bookie. :-) By the way, we love JOHNNY DANGEROUSLY, too, though I think we love OSCAR a little bit more (and Tim Curry is just as entertaining without lingerie), but I'll admit when it came to BoF, it was love at first sight for us. Thanks for coming by and joining the BoF/OSCAR conversation, and feel free to drop by any time!

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  23. Dorian,
    I haven't seen Ball of Fire.. I'm quite sad and confused since I try to catch every Stanwyck film, being a big fan of hers and Cooper.

    I loved your funny screen grabs! This film doesn't really sound like a comedy to me. But your great write up was enjoyable. Stanwyck in fur is worth an hour (Thanks Edith) then Cooper looking dapper. If it's one of your favorites I'll do my best to find it.

    Vinnie,
    I laughed when I saw "Oscar" as your choice since I thought it was one of the worst films I've ever seen. I can't believe it was at the top of the box office for two weeks! WOW!

    I'm not a fan of Stallone or Tomei so that may be why I thought the film was a snoozefest, with a horrible script to boot.

    It's fun to see what others find entertaining and I'm so glad that Vinnie signed on for a review with you Dorian.

    Your writing styles are brilliant and your sense of humor shines through. You know I'm always up for a few laughs.
    Thanks for adding the interesting trivia on both films too~
    Page

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    1. Page, dry your eyes, little cowgirl -- BALL OF FIRE turns up fairly regularly on TCM, and it was even one of The Essentials! Trust us, BoF is a comedy, all right -- a smart, snappy, fast-moving comedy chock full of sass, witty quips, and characters who are as kooky as they are endearing! Besides, any comedy involving Howard Hawks and Billy Wilder can't help but be entertaining. :-) And thanks oodles for your praise of our BoF screen grabs; these were especially fun to do!

      We remain loyal fans of OSCAR no matter what. Maybe you have to be fans of New York Damon Runyon period comedies to fully appreciate it :-)) Even if Stallone and/or Tomei don't happen to be your thing, the rest of the cast are a delight, especially Tim Curry trying to teach the family to speak well, using "Roscoe the rum-runner" for his speech lessons! :-) In any case, we're glad you enjoyed our writing either way! Thank you, my good friend! We're looking forward to your post about EASY LIVING!

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  24. I love BOF! The "yum-yum" demonstration is one of the classic movie kisses of all time. And Stanwyck is so good, with such natural instincts. As for "Oscar," I remember it starting off slow but then getting better and better, so what an interesting mash-up of films :)

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    1. CFB, Vinnie and I are happy to hear that you enjoyed both BALL OF FIRE and OSCAR; thanks for your positive feedback! I absolutely agree that Stanwyck and Cooper's "yum-yum" kiss is way up there amongst my personal favorite examples of movie liplock. I'll be reading your post about PILLOW TALK shortly, and I know it'll be a delight!

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  25. Dorian, Ball of Fire sounds like a hoot and I can't believe I've never seen it! Thanks for the thorough story and I love the comparison to Snow White. So funny that slang dictionaries have been around for a very long time and boy are they different today!

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    1. Eve, thanks for your enthusiastic praise for the BALL OF FIRE part of our double-feature! Lots of writers have tried to freshen up classic stories with modern twists, and I think BoF is one of the very best of these attempts. And you're right about the evolution of slang dictionaries, too. On a related note, have you ever seen the 1967 Christmas caper comedy FITZWILLY, in which Dame Edith Evans' character is working on a dictionary of misspellings? They've got those now, too! See, life imitates art! :-) If you're interested, here's the link:

      http://doriantb.blogspot.com/2010/12/thin-man-meets-fitzwilly-team.html

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  26. 'Ball of Fire' is one of my faves - a wonderfully funny film, and Hawks manages to keep all its antics spinning breathlessly. I just want to mention Dan Duryea, who's hilarious as a none-too-bright henchman demonstrating how he learned pistol shooting from a film he saw (just the other week, he says). His spittle-slicking-of-the-gunsight technique was actually Hawks' nod to Cooper's use of the same gesture in 'Sergeant York.' 'A Song is Born,' Hawks' own remake, is unfortunately nowhere in the same rank as the original 'Ball of Fire' (Hawks was reportedly dismayed w/Virginia Mayo in the Stanwyck part). However, it does feature Benny Goodman as one of the professors, and Louis Armstrong and Lionel Hampton jointly playing Allan Jenkins' role, so it's worth it for that.

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    1. GOM, I had a feeling that with your great taste in movies, you'd be a big fan of BALL OF FIRE, too! I've mostly seen Dan Duryea playing sleazy no-goodniks, so I got a kick out of seeing him playing that kind of character for laughs; besides, I especially love seeing dumb bad guys get what's coming to them! :-) I remember reading somewhere (most likely the TCM Web site, knowing me) about that nice tip of the hat to SERGEANT YORK. I think I remember a SGT. YORK gag in THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD, too; Howard Hawks loved to put in these little plugs for his hits, and why not?

      Despite the less-than-stellar reviews of A SONG IS BORN, now I feel I must see it for Lionel Hampton and Louis Armstrong! :-) Thanks for dropping by to talk BALL OF FIRE with us here at TotED; come around any time!

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  28. A little late to the party, but Great googly moogly, i knew this would be fun, after perusing all the comments so as to not sound like a memo from the department of redundancy department, thoughts are as follows:
    -ok I want pix of romantic screwball caps! Or is that something to do with a font & case?
    - love the pronuncification tips! (i was asked to leave adolescence once for mispronouncing Siouxsie)
    -HaHA at Jacqueline’s comment about the profs > Wikipedia! If only we could call them up anytime for reference
    - Loving the “research” Wilder & Brackett did for the slang. I bet it took them a long time, especially at the burley-q and the track; gotta pick up lots of slang, you know. For research.

    Seriously though, you remind us all what a fantastic cast this movie has; I dare say you couldn’t assemble anything of its like today, not just the leads but just thinking of Andrews & Duryea all the way down to Lee, Jenkins et al. so so great. Also thinking of how Wilder+Stanwyck gave us things as brilliant yet as different as Ball of Fire AND Double Indemnity just blows the mind. Excellent notes on the times, Coop’s great success that year, Martha Tilton & Gene Krupa! Again, what a movie.
    One of my absolute fave movies and you did a super job on the post, thank you!
    As Cuddles Sakall would say: “pshwoooeieeeee!!” and I just broke my spellcheck

    p.s. I am on #teamNeverSeenOscar, but now I just have to…love how this post puts together Pastrami & Provolone. they were always meant to be together
    cheers!

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    1. Kristina, it's never too late to come party with us here at TotED -- glad you made it! Besides, you had me at "Pastrami & Provolone, they were always meant to be together!" (Yet another reason to give OSCAR a try! :-)) With your wit, you're a born screen-grab caption-maker, my friend! And don't you wish all research assignments were as fun as the ones for BALL OF FIRE? :-)

      I'm with you about BoF's stupendous cast! Not to sound cliched or grumpy, but after watching great classic movies like the ones that you and I have respectively covered here at TotED and over in your wonderful blog SPEAKEASY, sometimes it seems that they really don't have truly exceptional movie stars like Stanwyck and Cooper and all those fabulous character actors like they used to. We need to put together some kind of training program for writers, actors, and directors to bring awesomeness back to movies! :-) Beaucoup thanks for your enthusiastic praise and delightful virtual company, as always!

      P.S.: If by some bizarre twist of fate anyone here hasn't been following Kristina's SPEAKEASY, find it on TotED's "Further Distractions" column on the right side of the screen, click on "SPEAKEASY," and enjoy! Feel free to check out the other awesome blogs listed there, too!

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  29. Fun post, both of you. It goes without saying that I love Ball of Fire, but I confess to being one of those who let the reviews keep me away from Oscar. You've convinced me to give it a look after all. From your description, it sounds a bit like Warner Bros.' A Slight Case of Murder (later remade as Stop, You're Killing Me).

    And hey, since today happens to be Charles Lane's birthday, let's hear it for this journeyman actor par excellence! (No relation, BTW; I came by the name naturally, while he was born Levison.) His 359 titles on the IMDb must surely be a record. I remember a TV Guide interview with him when he had (finally!) made a name for himself on the old Petticoat Junction, talking about his career of show-up-on-the-set-one-day-do-your-bit-get-your-money-and-go-home: he said he had only the other day seen himself in a 1930s movie on TV without any recollection of ever having played the part. And when the Screen Actors Guild honored his 100th birthday by proclaiming "Charles Lane Day" he said, "In case you're interested, I'm still available." Happy 107th, Mr. Lane, wherever you are, and thanks for the memories!

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    1. Jim, Vinnie and I thank you for your kind world about our BALL OF FIRE/OSCAR two-fer! We're also glad you're willing to give OSCAR a chance; we really think you'll be pleasantly surprised! I'm a fan of A SLIGHT CASE OF MURDER, too, and I think fans of that delightful comedy-thriller (my favorite genre :-)) will definitely enjoy OSCAR as well. I've never seen STOP, YOU'RE KILLING ME, but I'll keep an eye out for it.

      Glad to hear you're a Charles Lane fan, too, and thanks for sharing your funny and charming anecdotes about this durable character actor! If you ask me, TCM needs to have a month devoted to Charles Lane and his many supporting roles; goodness knows Lane made enough movies for TCM to show Lane movies every day for a month! :-) As always, Jim, it's great to have you join the conversation!

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    2. FYI, Dorian, Stop, You're Killing Me ('52) starred Broderick Crawford and Claire Trevor in the roles originally played by Edward G. Robinson and Ruth Donnelly. I always liked it, but then I saw it before A Slight Case, which of course is much the better movie.

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    3. Jim, with talented folks like Broderick Crawford and Claire Trevor in the STOP, YOU'RE KILLING ME cast, I'd like to check it out. Still, it definitely sounds to me like A SLIGHT CASE OF MURDER is the way to go! :-) Besides, Edward G. Robinson is always worth watching. Thanks for the tip, my friend!

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  31. I LOVE Ball of Fire! It is one of my favorite Stanwyck movies. She is perfect in the part, and the professors are to die for. Your description of her visual look: "...whether Stanwyck is wearing sequins or a simple shirtwaist dress, you can’t take your eyes off her, especially with the confident, panther-like way she walks" is right on. The woman is adorable. Wonderful analysis of the movie and interesting facts about its making.
    I've never seen Vinnie's The Oscar, mainly because I'm not a Sylvester Stallone fan, but perhaps I should give this one a chance. Excellent post, TeamB!

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  32. Becky, dear friend, Vinnie and I are delighted that you've joined us today; we miss you when you're not around! I knew a gal of your fine taste in classic films would love BALL OF FIRE in general and Barbara Stanwyck in particular as much as we do. You said it yourself: the woman is adorable! Many thanks for your praise of BoF, and we hope you'll give OSCAR a try when you can; I think you'll really enjoy it!

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  33. "Ball of Fire" is one of my favorite comedies thanks for spotlighting it!

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  34. Deb, thanks and you're welcome! :-) I'm delighted to hear you're a fellow BALL OF FIRE fan! I enjoyed reading your SPEAK OF THE DEVIL blog post, too. Glad to get a chance to read your work through the ever-delightful Eve Gaal and THE DESERT ROCKS!

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