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:

Switch Board | Male Female Relationship | Love | Adult As Child | Train

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:

Billy Wilder's directorial debut in the U.S.

Quotes:

Cadet Clifford Osborne: Well, the bus is here. The zombies have arrived.
Susan Applegate: Who?
Cadet Clifford Osborne: [disdainfully] The girls from Miss Shackleford's school.
Cadet Lt. Miller: We use 'em for women.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Remington Steele: Elegy in Steele (#2.16)" (1984)

Soundtrack:

Lover

Major Comedy

The greatest trick this movie pulls off is in fooling its audience that it is a piece of fluff. Admittedly, it is to a certain extent, but nobody is more conscious of the limitations of the genre than the makers of this film themselves. The satire on the mistaken identity disaster is so well done here that every scene contains valuable clues and cinematic winks at the viewer. Is it plausible that a 30 year old woman can pull off acting like a 12 year old? The initial response is no, which Billy Wilder and Ginger Rogers reinforce through the disconnect between Rogers' SuSu and the precocious reality of the adolescent set. The pedophilic subtext of the film seems to be a remarkable case of flipping the proverbial bird to the often restrictive framework of the romantic comedy genre. Rogers' inability to escape predatory advances - whether it be by grownups in the big city or 13 year old military school boys - is an ironic point well made by Wilder; this film indeed seems an exploration of extreme fate. Take the inevitable wedding of Pamela that occurs regardless of the identity of the groom, or the fact that on every date Rogers is subjected to go on with a Cadet, it becomes the exact same date. More to the point, the connection between Ray Milland's Major Kirby and Rogers does not change as they meet with Rogers taking on three separate incarnations. The film is indeed deceptively smart; because it refuses to beat you over the head with the fact, it is still absolutely unassuming and lovable.