A group of ivory-tower lexicographers realize they need to hear how real people talk, and end up helping a beautiful singer escape from the Mob.
Howard Hawks’ emblematic screwball comedy germinates from the wheeze of Billy Wilder when the latter was still in Germany, it is the quintessential coupling of the pedantic and the sultry, Gary Cooper plays Prof. Bertram Potts, a grammarian who is leading a group of eight scholars compiling and collating an encyclopedia, when a sultry nightclub performer Sugarpuss O’Shea (Stanwyck) takes shelter in their residence in NYC, who indeed is the gun moll of mob boss Joe Lilac (Andrews), the rest is written in the stone although it takes a tortuous route to reach its feel-good finish line.
Less loquacious and rapid-fire than Howard’s BRINGING UP BABY (1938), BALL OF FIRE points up the mine of vernacular in lieu of verbal rebuttal between the opposite sexes, it is during Prof. Potts’ field trip to collect current lexicon of slang when he is swept off his feet by a bling-bling Sugarpuss, performing DRUM BOOGIE withGene Krupa and his orchestra, accentuated by the bandleader'skilling drum solo and an ingenious miniature encore with matches. They are two different kettles of fish, a stuffy bachelor vs. a pragmatic siren, a mismatch rarely can make their way out in real life, and that's what enthralls even today’s audience, to watch something profoundly absurd but innocuously entertaining without its story being dumbed down or defamed by crass jokes pandering to the lowest common denominator is almost too good to be true.
Also, the star appeal is in high voltage, Cooper is not just a too handsome specimen in a button-down suit, he also makes the schtick of doing everything with proprietieslook effortless and goofy; an Oscar-nominatedStanwyck benefits from an earthier temperament and layers of inner conflicts deviled by her sapio-sexual conversion, is at her best when she retains her phlegm before impishly doling out her“yum yum” to a gawky virgin, which catches him unawares.
Another fount of joy comes from the riff on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, as the other 7 professors grows an unanimous affinity to Sugarpuss, to the dismay of the stern housemaid Miss Bragg (Howard), and among them, the only widower is the botanist Prof. Oddly, Richard Haydn brings about a loveably prissy mannerism that steals the limelight in the well-orchestrated crunch when the group has to outmaneuver Joe’s two pistol-wielding henchmen. In short, considerably more accessible and more laid-back than BRINGING UP BABY, BALL OF FIRE excels in conflating different genre fodder (comedy, musical, gangster) into a helluva ride of a modern fairytale, and runs away with our affection on a moment’s notice.
referential points: Hawks’ TWENTIETH CENTURY (1934, 6.0/10), BRINGING UP BABY (1938, 7.4/10); George Cukor's THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940, 8.1/10).
Marriage? I thought I was married to my books. The only thing I thought I could care for deeply was a correctly constructed sentence. The subject, predicate, adverbial clause, each in its proper place, and then you... You see, I've had rather a curious life. I graduated from Princeton when I was 13. I recited Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright when I was a year old. Before I was two, I could read fluently. People like that just, well... You see, dust just piles up on their hearts. And it took you to blow it away.
---- Yes, I love him. I love those hick shirts he wears with the boiled cuffs. And the way he always has his vest buttoned wrong. Looks like a giraffe and I love him. I love him because he's the kind of a guy that gets drunk on a glass of buttermilk. And I love the way he blushes right up over his ears. I love him because he doesn't know how to kiss, the jerk. ----
I'm a man in love.It's the first time in my life. I want to take her in my arms. I thought because I was young. I had self-control but that's not true. I think of her every waking moment. Why, if this marriage had been delayed, I mean, should have been delayed.I mean, should be... Listen to that. Oddly, I don't know my tenses anymore. I've gone goofy, completely goofy,bim-buggy, slap-happy.
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You must get me out of your mind just as I must get you out of this house. ———— A little sun on my hair and you had to water your neck.
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After you've declared your feelings, it's the only logical step to take
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"Look, how this ring encompasseth thy finger.Even so thy breast encloseth my poor heart.Wear both of them, for both of them are thine."
书呆子和风流女的故事总是火花迸溅 加上Hawks和Wilder的合作就是质量保证 结尾笑料十足而且不落俗套 would you ...would you yum me just once more? 太可爱了
“霍华德·霍克斯的天才在于每一个镜头都有一种功能美,影片中流畅、有序的镜头组接像人的脉搏一样充满节奏感,他的整部影片就犹如一个美丽的躯体,伴随着深沉、有弹性的呼吸而始终保持着活力。”
8位大学者和1个艳舞女郎的故事,真能编啊,居然情节如此引人入胜,即讽刺了学者们学术脱离实践的毛病,最后又赞扬了学者运用科学自救的杰出才能,用挠痒痒的方法逼供也颇有创意,并且称之为中国式刑讯,为什么我们却没听说过?总而言之,黑白片时代的讲故事能力超一流!
黑社会老大的夜总会情妇还是更适合Rita Hayworth来演,芭芭拉难免有点生硬,教老教授们跳舞的那场戏,没看出多少感染力。
screwball comedy的一大特征:刻意丑化男主角。stanwyck美呆了
虽然Billy Wilder剧本很NB,但还是感觉霍华德·霍克斯的喜剧标准比前者略逊一筹,中间有小段的冷场,而且在Barbara的光芒四射下Gary Cooper太木头了,闷骚有了却不来电,不过书呆子老学究们大战黑帮匪徒的群戏甚是可爱,整体3.5星...
中间有部分略显沉闷,整体效果还是很high的,尤其是七个小老头教授特别的可爱,对斯坦威克倒没什么感觉,加里·库珀也太帅了吧!最喜欢他说能不能再"yum"一下的段落~
Barbara Stanwyck真是迷死人,完全拜倒在她石榴裙下。她的性感可以是说话时轻轻抽动的嘴角,可以是漫不经心的一个动作。看过她四部电影里有三部的男主角都要被她骗。。。外加一群可爱的老头,精彩的鼓手。
Missy踩书吻Cooper那段好sexy,但感觉这片不是特别Hawks呢。
两个次元人类的激情碰撞 最后的反击呆萌呆萌的
看完后的第一感觉就是美国人拍《生活大爆炸》真不奇怪啊。这种书呆子和美女之间插科打诨的搞笑幽默,看得让人兴奋和性奋。虽然是比利·怀尔德编剧,但一点都不情景剧,霍克斯特有的神经喜剧感,仍然奏效。
台词跟黑帮戏都很有料但看完就是说不上特喜欢……Cooper演这种书呆子感觉好违和,最后一幕我甚至被迫脑补出了Jimmy【长颈鹿是什么鬼!】
成人版(字面义)的白雪公主与七个小矮人lol! 霍克斯的机关枪对话爱情喜剧是看不厌的,编剧还有比利怀德,就是跟加里库珀一样,斯坦威克的潮语我也有点跟不上...
1、火球,1941年。2、翻拍自著名动漫白雪公主与七个小矮人(其实不是),日本人后来翻拍成编舟记2013(其实也不是)。3、女生爱说俏皮话,加里库柏都扛不住。3、讲了一位夜总会女歌手和一个编辞典的教授的爱情纠葛。3、有黑帮与学术界的冲突,所以神经喜剧(Screwball comedy)和黑色电影(noir)都沾点,肯定偏喜剧这边儿4、大导演霍华德霍克斯执导,7年后他又重拍了一遍自己(艳曲迷魂1948),据说是因为有老板肯出钱,反正闲着也是闲着。4、编剧里有后来大名鼎鼎的比利怀德,台词机关枪不是盖的。
斯坦威克演的真好(虽然歌舞部分很一般),加里库珀的书呆子是真的呆(说难听点跟李亚鹏的郭靖是一个路数),反正我从来看他不顺眼,加上剧情原因,爱情戏尴尬得一身鸡皮疙瘩
美国俚语学习手册,台词字字珠玑,又是谎言促成美好姻缘的喜剧。选择库柏和安德鲁斯就是神经喜剧与黑色电影的混合,而芭芭拉本身就游刃于这两种类型片中,其效果自然是浑然天成。ps: L'EQUIPE、T/H的的俚语式翻译也超好玩!
查尔斯·布拉克特、比利·怀德联合编剧。1.出行引发交集(同《苏利文旅行》),谎言促成姻缘。借由一个误会推进的意外爱情童话,滑稽、荒诞的情节构思糅合机关枪式对话交锋,几度令人捧腹。2.强调反差张力的情节设计:黑手党/论究会、刻板陈旧的学识搬弄/新潮灵活的俚语运用、木讷较与热情的男女主角。3.火柴盒模拟鼓点;69倒挂进错房;中国挠痒酷刑;画框智取恶徒;后颈浇冷水;一封白纸信;摞书拥吻,交付爱的yum-yum。4.霍克斯认为:“优秀的喜剧电影,即是反复化解困窘中的尴尬”。5.斯坦威克总能让我质疑自己的性取向。
真是受不了billy wilder那些假装mixed-genre又一波三折的烂故事!!和那些假装有message有讽喻的烂梗!!gary cooper和barbara stanwyck搭配表现也一般,倒是那群老头挺可爱的
嘉宝太冷艳,赫本大帝太中性,果然史坦威才是黄金时代第一御姐啊;加里库珀可能还是不适合演爱情喜剧;Dan Duryea的银幕反派小混混形象都可以成为文化符号了吧;最后,Gene Krupa is GOD!!!
机敏风骚的斯坦威克再配一群木讷可爱的老学究居然蹭出这么奇妙的化学反应,看得我各种开心。我也彻底拜倒在斯坦威克的石榴裙下~