It was Ms. Stanwyck's birthday a couple days ago, July 16 (1907). Last night, I watched Ball of Fire (1941) on the Netflix and had to write down a line they say of her character: "That is the kind of woman that makes whole civilizations topple" (echoing Helen of Troy). On the Barbara Stanwyck's Wikipedia page, they mentioned the same line.
I've been a big fan of her films but didn't know that she made 85 of them during her 38 years in Hollywood. My favorites (having only seen a hand full) are The Lady Eve (Sturges), Double Indemnity (Wilder), Ball of Fire (Hawkes), and Clash by Night (Lang). In 1941, she made two of those films; she made a total of four that year including Meet John Doe and You Belong to Me.
Below is a tribute from Jennifer Jason Leigh* for Turner Classic Movies (TCM):
Here's an article from The New Yorker called "Lady Be Good" (2007), celebrating her centennial. And a review of Ball of Fire from Cockeyed Caravan (underrated movies section).
On a side note, Ball of Fire is on Netflix streaming and I just put Baby Face (1933) in my DVD queue.
* Frank Capra's Meet John Doe is the original Hudsucker Proxy (Coen Brothers), which stars Ms. Leigh.
