WhyaDuck Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 Just telling it like it is,,,,,,What really makes that Gary Cooper version besides Babs is the 7 Drawfs. ....I know people young and old that like the Cooper and Babs version...It is timeless....OK, you have Krupa, but that ain't it.......It's the 7 drawfs.......and I must add the villian who was so good in he Best Of Our Lives.....but the 7 drawfs make the movie.......The Danny Kaye is all Danny Kaye. Too much Danny Kaye....I assume it's an MGM film and TCM and MGM go hand in hand....although since it is Babs month, and since they have showed the other alot, and since it is Christmas....Showing the lesser Kaye version leaves me wondering why. I will just say the 7 drarfs make the Cooper movie...and the cast in the Kaye movie is a cheaper cast, I have had young people tell me they like the Cooper version....never the Kaye Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scsu1975 Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 I agree, those drawfs really make the film. No one can play Sneezy like Oscar Homolka. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValentineXavier Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Oh, I'd bet that Akim Tamiroff could, if he tried. I like both versions. I think they are rather different. The Kaye version is a lot livelier, more modern, and more slapstick, of course. That's Danny. The Coop version is more of a screwball comedy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dothery Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Oh, I'd bet that Akim Tamiroff could, if he tried. +I like both versions. I think they are rather different. The Kaye version is a lot livelier, more modern, and more slapstick, of course. That's Danny. The Coop version is more of a screwball comedy.+ I could never buy Kaye as a lover. Now Cooper ... I'd have been chasing him down the street if I'd been Stanwyck. I always liked Danny as a comic, but he just had no charisma as a leading man. All Cooper had to do was smile and I melted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terrence1 Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 I agree with all of you. "Ball of Fire" is a classic. No wonder Ms Stanwyck was Oscar-nominated for this. She's great. The musical version cannot in any way compare favorably. And I love Virginia Mayo, but not in this one. She's no Barbara Stanwyck! And to make Danny Kaye the focal point of the entire movie is just wrong! Fortunately,we'll always have "Ball of Fire" to enjoy for a long, long time. Terrence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Faiola Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 They're both Samuel Goldwyn studio productions released through RKO. A SONG IS BORN is merely a musical update with a new set of dwarfs. Howard Hawks directed both pictures and I'm sure he had no thought of besting himself. I just can't take that cross-eyed Mayonaise. Other than that, I think the remake is pleasant and colorful fluff. But no classic like BALL OF FIRE. Something else to remember - BALL OF FIRE was released a few days before Pearl Harbor. It's very possible that it lost money. Here was a chance to make some money back on the property. Just speculation as I have no B.O. figures on either picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 BALLS OF FIRE would have been a far different film from BALL OF FIRE........Ouch, that smarts. Edited by: finance on Dec 18, 2012 9:54 AM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 I've always preferred the KAYE version to the original for three basic reasons: 1. VIRGINIA MAYO is far more sexy than Stanwyck could have ever dreamed of being. 2. I've been a lifelong DANNY KAYE fan, and he's funnier than GARY COOPER could ever have dreamed of being. And, 3. It's study group is about MUSIC, not language, and music plays closer to my interest. But do not dismay. I like them both. Sepiatone PS: On a similar note, I much prefer *Philadelphia Story* to *High Society* . Edited by: Sepiatone on Dec 18, 2012 6:29 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Well we can agree to disagree here. While I believe Mayo is better looking than Stanwyck, Stanwyck is a lot more sexier than Mayo in BOF. Mayo looks great but her acting is somewhat limp (flat), while Stanwyck, well, she is a ball of fire in this movie! Danny Kaye is funnier than Cooper but his type of 'funny' just doesn't work here as well as the low key Cooper. Thus the combo of a low key Cooper with a ball of fire Babs works a lot better, given the plot, than the inverse we see in the Kaye version; (high energy Kaye and low key Mayo). Then, as others have pointed out, there are the character actors. Dan Duryea as the heavy was perfect and of course there are the 7 dwarfs who I find a lot more enjoyable. BUT on the last point I agree with you (I have to don't I since I'm a jazz guitar player!). Yea, I do love the music angle but I still find the word play in BOF very funny. Also, when you say 'on a similar note' related to Philly Story and High Society; Well High Society is about music and Grace is better looking than Kate Hepburn, so based on 'a similar NOTE' (yes pun intended), shouldn't you like High Society more? I prefer Philly Story a lot more but I do love the music scenes from High Society. Edited by: jamesjazzguitar on Dec 18, 2012 2:47 PM Edited by: jamesjazzguitar on Dec 18, 2012 2:50 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hlywdkjk Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 F.Y.I. - TCM celebrates the 100th Anniversary of Danny Kaye's birth on January 20th with a full-day's line-up of films and television appearances. It includes an appearance on The Dick Cavett Show and my favorite Kaye film - *Wonder Man*. 6:00am/3:00am - "The Danny Kaye Show" episode 5 (1963) 7:00am/4:00am - *Up In Arms* (1944) 8:45am/5:45am - *Merry Andrew* (1958) 10:30am/07:30am - "The Dick Cavett Show" - Danny Kaye (1971) 12:00pm/09:00am - *The Kid From Brooklyn* (1946) 02:00pm/11:00am - *The Inspector General* (1949) 04:00pm/01:00pm - *Me and the Colonel* (1958) 06:00pm/03:00pm - *The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty* (1947) 08:00pm/05:00pm - *Hans Christian Andersen* (1952) 10:00pm/07:00pm - *The Court Jester* (1956) 12:00am/09:00pm - *A Song Is Born* (1948) 02:00am/11:00pm - *Wonder Man* (1945) 04:00am/01:00am - *The Man From the Diners' Club* (1963) http://www.tcm.com/schedule/January2013.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginnyfan Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 You do realize that the Kaye movie was grouped in with a series of films with Song, Sing, and singing in their titles? Ball Of Fire wouldn't have fit. If they wanted to show the Cooper, they had plenty of Stanwyck time to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 If one actor is more over-the-top than another, that doesn't necessarily mean that he is funnier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaquelVixen Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 > {quote:title=finance wrote:}{quote}BALLS OF FIRE would have been a far different film from BALL OF FIRE........Ouch, that smarts. Maybe the OP is thinking of Great Balls of Fire. Double ouch!! :^0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValentineXavier Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 > {quote:title=hlywdkjk wrote:}{quote}F.Y.I. - > > ... and my favorite Kaye film - *Wonder Man*. I have a hard time deciding between *Wonder Man* and *Court Jester*. They are both great. My favorite scene in *WM* is when he is reading two books at once, and taking notes on both, writing with both hands at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Go..............****! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts