Ball of Fire 1941 S. Z. Sakall , Gary Cooper

A group of bachelor professors, including a widower, have lived together for some years in a New York City residence, compiling an encyclopedia of all human knowledge. The youngest, Professor Bertram Potts, is a grammarian who is researching modern American slang. The professors are accustomed to working in relative seclusion at a leisurely pace with a prim housekeeper, Miss Bragg, keeping watch over them. Their impatient financial backer, Miss Totten, suddenly demands that they finish their work soon. Venturing out to do some independent research, Bertram becomes interested in the slang vocabulary of saucy nightclub performer "Sugarpuss" O'Shea. She is reluctant to assist him in his research until she suddenly needs a place to hide from the police, who want to question her about her boyfriend, mob boss Joe Lilac. Sugarpuss takes refuge in the house where the professors live and work, despite Bertram's objections and their housekeeper's threat to leave because of her. In the meantime, Joe decides to marry her, but only because as his wife she would not be able to testify against him. Directed by Howard Hawks Produced by Samuel Goldwyn Screenplay by Charles Brackett Billy Wilder Based on From A to Z by Thomas Monroe and Billy Wilder Starring Gary Cooper Barbara Stanwyck S. Z. Sakall Music by Alfred Newman Cinematography Gregg Toland Edited by Daniel Mandell