Ball of Fire m/m

Our local PBS channel just ran this 1941 movie the other day. It stars Gary Cooper and a young Barbara Stanwyck as Sugarpuss O'Shea.

The tickle scene occurs about five minutes before the film's end. A bunch of older male professors have two younger gangsters tied up in the back of a delivery van. Professor Gurkakoff (Oscar Homolka) is fashioning a small feather duster while Prof. Magenbruch (Humphrey Bogart's concierge in "Casablanca") looks on approvingly. Magenbruch finally says: "Are we ready? Shall we start the torture now?"

Another professor objects and gives the main gangster one last chance to talk. The gangster says defiantly, "Listen monkey, I've been given the third degree by all kinds of cops...all over!"

Magenbruch replies, "But not by us. You will see I am an authority on Chinese tortures."

One of them pulls up the gangster's shirt to expose his bare ribs and the gangster starts giggling and saying, "Look out, that tickles!"

Professor Gurkakoff twirls the little feather duster against the gangster's ribs and of course this induces much squirming and a fit of hysterical laughter, ending with the gangster shouting, "Alright, I'll talk. I'll talk!" and him revealing the secret location of a wedding ceremony.

The entire scene clocks in at 53 seconds. Is it realistic? No, not really, but this was a screwball comedy from the 40s. Despite its shortcomings, it remains an effective scene overall. So if you are into m/m tickling or you're a woman who likes seeing a guy get tickled for a change, it's worth checking out.

For foot lovers, there's a much earlier scene where Barbara Stanwyck (dressed in a leg-revealing showgirl outfit) removes her stocking and extends her slender and shapely right leg out (and upward) to Gary Cooper. "Alright, feel that. Go on, feel that foot," she commands. He reluctantly takes her foot in his hand but quickly lets it go. Stanwyck says, "Okay Tootsie Bell, whaddya say?" Cooper says, "It's cold." And she says, "It's cold and it's wet." Hmmmmm...no tickling but it's a sexy little scene with plenty of innuendo and a hint of fetishism. Not bad for a 1941 flick.

Thanks Eis! I'm not a M/M fan, but since I saw a pic from that foot scene on the cover of the video at Blockbuster, I've been WONDERING what that scene was all about.

Incidently, I believe it was Barbara Stanwick I posted about ages ago...someone who worked with her on a movie said they had to carry her everywhere when filming on the beach, because walking in the sand tickled her feet. If she shot that scene with anyone who knew her at all, it may have been fun for them to watch her extending her foot fearlessly...what an actress!

Bandit

Glad to oblige! Actually I wasn't even going to watch the rest of the film but decided at the last minute to fast forward through anyway and see if there were any more "items of interest". When that foot scene flashed by, I knew it had to be worth a closer look.

Where did you hear that story about Ms. Stanwyck's sensitive feet? Now it makes me wonder how many takes it took to shoot that scene and did Cooper,um...get playful and take advantage? Assuming he knew her weakness? Heck, they already had one tickling scene in the script, maybe he figured one more wouldn't hurt.

Might be worth finding a good biography or autobiography on her to see if there's any specific references to this film.

I just did a quick search on Google, typing in the name of this film and, lo and behold, they have a photo of that very scene with Gary Cooper holding Stanwyck's foot! It must be a publicity still because in the actual scene, I don't recall all the other professors standing there gawking.

The website is: www.moderntimes.com

bandt001 said:

Incidently, I believe it was Barbara Stanwick I posted about ages ago...someone who worked with her on a movie said they had to carry her everywhere when filming on the beach, because walking in the sand tickled her feet.

Click to expand...

Now that's ticklish! If only that duster had been used on her. Thanks for the info, bandt001.

This scene....

Is one of MANY to be included on Wisconsin Tickles 5, to be released in the next couple of months...