Gene Krupa - Drum Boogie

Ball of Fire (also known as The Professor and the Burlesque Queen) is a 1941 comedy film about a group of professors laboring for years to write an encyclopedia and their encounter with a nightclub performer who provides her own unique knowledge.

The film stars Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck, with a supporting cast that includes Oskar Homolka, S.Z. Sakall, Henry Travers, Richard Haydn, Dana Andrews, Dan Duryea and Elisha Cook, Jr.

In 1948, the plot was resurrected as a musical film, A Song Is Born, starring Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo.

Ball of Fire 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 Story.

Martha Tilton provided Barbara Stanwyck's singing voice for the song "Drum Boogie". Drummer and bandleader Gene Krupa performed the song with his band. In an unusual twist, he also played it on a matchbox with matches for drumsticks. Krupa band member and famed trumpeter Roy Eldridge received a brief on-camera spell during "Drum Boogie."