Ball of Fire (also known as The Professor and the Burlesque Queen) is a 1941 comedy film which tells the story of a group of encyclopedists interested in documenting slang who protect a nightclub singer on the lam for testifying against her mobster boyfriend. It stars Gary Cooper ("Bertram Potts"), Barbara Stanwyck ("Sugarpuss"), Oskar Homolka, Henry Travers, Richard Haydn, Dana Andrews, Dan Duryea and Elisha Cook Jr.. 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1913 advertisement for Encyclopædia Britannica. ... With Eleanor Roosevelt in 1950 Gary Cooper (May 7, 1901 - May 13, 1961) was an American film actor whose career spanned the from the 1920s up until the year of his death. ... Barbara Stanwyck in Stella Dallas (1937) Barbara Stanwyck (born Ruby Katherine Stevens) (July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was an American film and television actress. ... Henry Travers (March 5, 1874 – October 18, 1965) is an actor. ... Dana Andrews Dana Andrews (January 1, 1909 - December 17, 1992) was an American actor. ... Publicity photo for Duryea Dan Duryea (January 23, 1907-June 7, 1968) was a hard-working TV and movie actor. ... Diminutive character actor Elisha Cook Jr. ...

The movie was written by Charles Brackett, Thomas Monroe and Billy Wilder. It was directed by Howard Hawks. Charles Brackett (November 26, 1892-March 9, 1969) was an accomplished movie screenwriter and movie producer. ... Billy Wilder (June 22, 1906–March 27, 2002) had a career as a screenwriter, film director and producer that spanned more than 50 years and more than 60 films. ... Howard Hawks (May 30, 1896 – December 26, 1977) was an American film director, producer and writer of the classic Hollywood era. ...

It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Barbara Stanwyck), Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture, Best Sound, Recording and Best Writing, Original Story. Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ... The Academy Award for Best Actress is one of the awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. ... From Rule Sixteen of the Special Rules for The Music Awards Original Score: An original score is a substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer. ... This is a list of films that have received an Oscar for best sound. ... The Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best script not based upon previously published material. ...

Examples of 1940's American slang used in the film:

"shove in your clutch" - get lost
"going like gangbusters" - still in contemporary use
"crabapple annie" - a stuffy, prudish person
"hold the phone" - shut up