The Major and the Minor (1942)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Billy Wilder

Writers:

Fanny Kilbourne (story)
Edward Childs Carpenter (play)

Release Date:

16 September 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Is She A Kid - Or Is She Kidding?

Plot:

A woman disguises herself as a child to save on a train fare and is taken in charge by an army man who doesn't notice the truth.

Plot Keywords:

Train | Military School | Iowa | Framed Butterfly | Real Life Mother And Daughter Playing Mother And Daughter

Cast

Ginger Rogers	...	Susan Kathleen 'Su-Su' Applegate
Ray Milland	...	Major Philip Kirby
Rita Johnson	...	Pamela Hill
Robert Benchley	...	Albert Osborne
Diana Lynn	...	Lucy Hill
Edward Fielding	...	Colonel Oliver Slater Hill
Frankie Thomas	...	Cadet Clifford Osborne
Raymond Roe	...	Cadet Lt. Anthony Wigton
Charles Smith	...	Cadet 'Cozy' Korner
Larry Nunn	...	Cadet Adjutant Babcock
Billy Dawson	...	Cadet Lt. Miller
Lela E. Rogers	...	Mrs. Applegate (as Lela Rogers)
Aldrich Bowker	...	Reverend Doyle
Boyd Irwin	...	Major Griscom
Byron Shores	...	Captain Durand

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G | USA:Approved (PCA #8270) | Finland:K-16 (1943) | Finland:S (1964)

Filming Locations:

St. John's Military Academy - 1101 North Genesee Street, Delafield, Wisconsin, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

Quotes:

Mr. Osborne: Why don't you get out of that wet coat and into a dry martini?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Hellcats (#3.9)" (1990)

Soundtrack:

Blues in the Night

Half fare please!

Billy Wilder and his excellent collaborator, Charles Brackett, knew what the movie going public of the time wanted to see. So, it's not a surprise they achieved a great hit with "The Major and the Minor". One has to go back to the time this film was made to realize what the creators of this comedy accomplished. This marked the first Hollywood film Mr. Wilder directed and his touch is everywhere. The movie stands the passage of time.

"The Major and the Minor" works because of its two stars. Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland were versatile actors who showed perfect chemistry in the film. Both do excellent work guided by the masterful hand of Billy Wilder.

Ginger Rogers' take on the little girl is fine. Of course, we, the viewers, know what is going on, but to the rest of the people she is nothing but the innocent, and young SuSu Applegate. Ray Milland, on the other hand, is proper throughout the film until the end, when the mystery is solved. Mr. Milland's timing is impeccable and he makes his Maj. Kirby a sort of absent minded "uncle" to the young SuSu.

Billy Wilder showed a flair for this type of comedy. He got wonderful supporting performances from Rita Johnson and the disarming Diana Lynn, as the two sisters with different viewpoints on everything. Also, the opening sequence involving the incomparable Robert Benchley shows us a lecherous man who has hired the grown up Susan for a scalp treatment, that in his mind will lead into something else. Mr. Benchley and Ms. Rogers are hilarious.

This film established Billy Wilder as a director who went far and enjoyed a long career.