Ball of Fire
1941 · 111 min
Directed by Howard Hawks. Written by Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett. Starring Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Oskar Homolka, Henry Travers.
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 When one of them discovers that his entry on slang is hopelessly outdated, he ventures into the wide world to learn about the evolving language.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.
Critics 100% · audiences 89% · streaming on Prime Video, Kanopy, Hoopla · 4 Oscar nominations