The Major and the Minor (1942) Online

1942 Ginger Rogers Ray Milland Rita Johnson Billy Wilder

Original Title :: The Major and the Minor
Genre :: Movie / Comedy / Romance
Year :: 1942
Directror :: Billy Wilder
Cast :: Ginger Rogers,Ray Milland,Rita Johnson
Writer :: Charles Brackett,Billy Wilder
Budget :: $928,000
Type :: Movie
Time :: 1h 40min
Rating :: 7.5/10

The Major and the Minor (1942) Online

New York working girl Susan Applegate is desperate to go home to Iowa but does not have the railway fare so she disguises herself as a child to ride half fare. Enroute she meets Philip Kirby, an Army major teaching at a military school.

Cast overview, first billed only:
	Ginger Rogers	-	Susan 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 Osborne
	Raymond Roe	-	Cadet Anthony Wigton Jr.
	Charles Smith	-	Cadet Korner
	Larry Nunn	-	Cadet Babcock
	Billy Dawson	-	Cadet Miller
	Lela E. Rogers	-	Mrs. Applegate (as Lela Rogers)
	Aldrich Bowker	-	Reverend Doyle
	Boyd Irwin	-	Major Griscom
	Byron Shores	-	Captain Durand

The role was very close to Ginger Rogers' heart. When she was touring America with her vaudeville act and chauffeured by her mother, Lela E. Rogers, they could not afford to pay the full fare. Ginger had to pretend to be younger by rolling her stockings down and holding her old dolly to look like a young child in order to get a cheaper fare.

Billy Wilder was driving home from the studio one evening and pulled up at a red light next to Ray Milland. Impulsively, he called out, "I'm doing a picture. Would you like to be in it?," and the actor responded, "Sure." Wilder sent him the script, which Milland liked.

It was decided to include scenes of Susan's (Ginger Rogers) mother. Spring Byington was the first choice but was appearing in another film. Rogers suggested her real mother Lela E. Rogers, who got the role.

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

When 'Susu' is asked by the two train conductors to prove she's of 'Swedish stock' by saying something 'Swedish,' she replies; 'I want to be alone,' quoting the famous line spoken by Greta Garbo (who was originally from Sweden) in Grand Hotel (1932), which she parodied in her appearance in Ninotchka (1939), of which Billy Wilder was one of the screenwriters.

Diana Lynn appeared as Lucy, the science-obsessed teenage sister of Pamela. Thirteen years later, Lynn starred in that film's remake, You're Never Too Young (1955), this time as Nancy Collins, a female version of the role originally played by Ray Milland.

The film parodies Veronica Lake's hair style. Ms. Lake only became 'Veronica Lake' about 2 years earlier.

As a neophyte director, Billy Wilder heavily relied on editor Doane Harrison for guidance. Harrison had edited Hold Back the Dawn (1941), which Charles Brackett and Wilder had written. Unusually for an editor, Harrison was on the set for filming as well as working in the cutting room. Wilder later said, "I worked with a very good cutter, Doane Harrison, from whom I learned a great deal. He was much more of a help to me than the cameraman. When I became a director from a writer my technical knowledge was very meagre." Harrison taught him how to "cut in the camera," a form of spontaneous editing that results in a minimal amount of film being shot and eliminates the possibility of studio heads later adding footage the director deemed unnecessary. In later years, Wilder commented, "When I finish a film, there is nothing on the cutting room floor but chewing gum wrappers and tears." Wilder's and Harrison's unusually close and important collaboration continued for every subsequent film directed by Wilder through The Fortune Cookie (1966).

Principal photography was completed quickly and efficiently. Ginger Rogers later recalled, "We had a lot of fun making the picture. It was that kind of story. And even though it was his first film, from day one I saw that Billy knew what to do. He was very sure of himself. He had perfect confidence . . . I've never been sorry I made the film. The Major and the Minor really holds up. It's as good now as it was then."

This was Ginger Rogers first picture for Paramount in nine years.

Dickie Jones and Billy Cook were cast in the same role, but both deferred due to illness.

In the train station scene, a young girl shows her mother a magazine at the newsstand entitled "Why I Hate Women: By Charles Boyer." Boyer had starred in Hold Back the Dawn (1941) which had been co-written by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett.

Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett wrote the role of Philip Kirby with Cary Grant in mind.

Ginger Rogers recently had won the 1940 Academy Award for Best Actress for Kitty Foyle (1940) and now was in a position to select her own director. Agent Leland Hayward represented both Rogers and Billy Wilder, who asked him to intercede with her on his behalf, and Charles Brackett also urged her to meet the neophyte director. She agreed, and she and the screenwriters met during the filming of Roxie Hart (1942). They pitched the movie during lunch at an Italian restaurant, and Rogers later recalled Wilder "was charming, a European gentleman . . . I've always been a good judge of character. decided then and there that both of us would get along and that Wilder had the qualities to become a good director . . . felt he would be strong, and that Wilder would listen. Wilder certainly understood how to pay attention to a woman." What also appealed to Rogers was the basic concept of the film. As a younger woman, she had pretended to be eligible for a child's fare when traveling by train with her cash-strapped mother on more than one occasion, so she easily identified with the plot and agreed to make the film.

Both Tom McGuire (News Vender) and Guy Wilkerson (Farmer Truck Driver) are in studio records for their roles in this film, but they did not appear in the print. Also, Billy Cook and Dickie Jones (Cadets) were scheduled to appear, but both were replaced due to illness.

"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on May 31, 1943 with Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland reprising their film roles. It's episode 323 on some lists.

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. Its initial television broadcast took place in Chicago Sunday 11 January 1959 on WBBM (Channel 2), and it soon became a popular local favorite once it was aired in St. Louis 21 March 1959 on KMOX (Channel 4), in Seattle 27 March 1959 on KIRO (Channel 7), in Milwaukee 16 April 1959 on WITI (Channel 6), in Grand Rapids 22 September 1959 on WOOD (Channel 8), in Minneapolis 22 October 1959 on WTCN (Channel 11), in Detroit 24 October 1959 on WJBK (Channel 2), in Phoenix 8 November 1959 on KVAR (Channel 12), in Asheville 24 November 1959 on WLOS (Channel 13), in Johnstown 8 December 1959 on WJAC (Channel 6) and in New York City 29 January 1960 on WCBS (Channel 2) . It was released on DVD 22 April 2008 as part of Universal's Cinema Classics series, and since that time has also enjoyed occasional airings on Turner Classic Movies.

Actress Dorothy Comingore was originally assigned in the Pamela Hill role, before Rita Johnson took over.

When Susan Applegate leaves from New York's Grand Central Terminal, the train pulled by a streamlined steam locomotive, designed by Raymond Loewy, for the Pennsylvania Railroad, is in fact shown leaving from Chicago. The New York train would have been lead by an electric engine, changing to a steam locomotive in Croton-Harmon, NY, and headed toward Chicago.

Hillary Brooke tested for a role.

Remade as the 1955 Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis comedy You're Never Too Young, with Lewis playing a male version of Ginger Rogers' character and Diana Lynn playing a female equivalent of Ray Milland's character.

"Theater Guild on the Air" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on October 14, 1951 with Ray Milland reprising his film role.

Play "Connie Goes Home" opened at 49th Street Theatre in New York City on 6 September 1923 and closed later that month after 20 performances. The leading roles were played by Berton Churchill and Sylvia Field.

"The Screen Guild Theater" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on September 6, 1943 with Diana Lynn reprising her film role.

User reviews

Deorro

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.

Kazigrel

I wish I understood how reviews are selected to be displayed as the IMDb-approved review. The current one for "The Major and the Minor" is a major disgrace. The movie article the little girl picks up at Penn Station is NOT "Why I Hit Women," by Charles Boyer, it is "Why I Hate Women." It's a joke-- obviously too subtle for some-- because Charles Boyer is of course one of the great lovers of the screen, one everyone would have known when this film was released in 1941. It's similar to when Ginger Rogers' character as a girl on the train is asked to speak Swedish for the conductors, who question her veracity. She answers, "I want to be alone." Again, this joke is something every movie viewer then would have known as an allusion to Swedish film star Greta Garbo. "The Major and the Minor" is a marvelous film and deserves better treatment on IMDb.

Conjulhala

Ginger Rogers plays Susan Applegate who wants to leave New York behind and go back home to Iowa.But she doesn't have the railway fare so she disguises herself as a 12 year old girl to ride half fare.At the train she meets Major Philip Kirby (Ray Milland) who takes "the little girl" with him to military school.There little Susu is surrounded by all the boys because she is a knock out for a 12 year old. The Major and the Minor from 1942 is a Billy Wilder comedy with some funny moments.It's not his best work but it is much better than many comedies nowadays.Ginger Rogers is brilliant in the lead.She makes a great kid even though she doesn't seem like a kid.In 1955 they made a remake for this called You're Never Too Young with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, which was also funny.This movie is a must see for every Billy Wilder fan because this was his American debut.

Ariurin

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.

Rgia

Billy Wilder's directorial debut is one of the American cinema's classic screwball comedies. Ginger Rogers is electric as the blue-collar gal whose adventures begin when she dresses herself up as a youngster so she can afford to ride home on the train (she only has half-fare). Robert Benchley heads a magnificent supporting cast, and Ray Milland acts his role to a "tee." If you've never seen this, you are in for a treat.

Yramede

Billy Wilder, like his contemporary Preston Sturgis, gained attention in Hollywood at Paramount Studio as a screen writer. And oddly enough both decided to become directors because of unfair feelings towards the work of director Mitchell Leisin with their scripts. Wilder did not like Leisin's work with MIDNIGHT, and Sturgis did not like his work with REMEMBER THE NIGHT. It was unfair because Leisin did not have the cynical edge of Wilder and Sturgis, but Leisin was into bringing a more human element into his films (oddly enough, in later years, Wilder would too). They both got permission from Paramount to direct - Wilder a little after Sturgis did, because Sturgis had demonstrated he could be quite successful as a director.

THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR is Wilder's first film as director, and his first comedy. He demonstrated in it that he was above average in his ability to direct, getting the first good performance he got out of Ray Milland and an equally good one out of Ginger Rogers. He and his partner Charles Brackett did the screenplay here - a simple story of a woman who gets fed up with her failing life in New York City, and decides to return (however regretfully it may seem) to her small mid-western town. But Susan Applegate has a problem - she hasn't enough money for her ticket by train. Then she discovers she does have enough for her ticket if she can convince everyone she is a very tall teenager. So she does, as twelve year old "Su Su Applegate". Complete with pig-tales and a balloon (and temporarily accompanied by Tom Dugan, who agrees to be her "father" for a price) "Su Su" gets her ticket, only to be cheated by Dugan out of most of the remaining money she was carrying (she does kick him though!).

She ends up hiding from suspicious conductors in a private sleeping compartment with Major Philip Kirby (Milland), who is returning to his job at a military academy after a fruitless attempt to get into the war effort (it is 1942). Kirby is engaged to the daughter of the commandant of the academy, Pamela Hill (Rita Johnson). What he doesn't know is that Pamela is determined to undermine every attempt he makes to get a war job. She has connections through her father's friends, which she uses like an expert. It helps that Philip has an eye problem (though not a major one).

Because she is traveling alone, Philip takes Su-Su to the academy until they can have her picked up or driven to her home. She becomes an instant social success with all of the cadets - most of whom test out their young libidos on her by demonstrating how the Nazi blitzkrieg by-passed the Maginot Line (you have to see it to believe it). Only one person is not taken in - Pamela's sister Lucy (Diana Lynn). Lucy is going to be a scientist, and she can tell that Su-Su is just too well developed to be her age. But Lucy and Su-Su soon develop a close friendship (as Lucy eventually admits, Susan is far more of a sister to her than Pamela ever was). So Su-Su's secret is safe - and she and Lucy soon are trying to figure out how to counteract Pamela's efforts against Philip.

The film has many lovely touches, like Su-Su taking over the switch board (the cadet who is caught as a result, and who has been listening to "My Mother Done Told Me", looks angrily at her and yells out "A woman's a two-face!"). There are also the appearances of Robert Benchley as the amorous Mr. Osborne, who knew Susan as Susan in New York, but meets Su-Su at a dance at the military academy (Benchley's son is a cadet there). He goes crazy trying to figure out where he met this girl before.

But best is the interaction between Milland and Rogers, one highlight of which shows Wilder at his wickedest (and would not be repeated in 1940s comedies again). Trying to get little Su-Su to be careful with the cadets, "Uncle Philip" gives her a "birds and the bees" lecture. She asks him if he thinks she is attractive. He looks carefully at her, and says, "Why Su-Su you're a knockout!' She leaves, and he shuts the door smiling. The smile has a touch too much teeth in it - almost a sensual smile. And Milland realizes it...and a moment later he cringes thinking that he is becoming a potential child molester.

Will Philip get his wartime commission? Will Pamela get defeated, and Susan eventually reveal herself to Philip as a grown woman (she likes him very much)? You have to see the film to see how it works out. It also has the added attraction of Ginger Roger's mother Leila playing Susan's mother. Altogether a capital film, and a good directorial debut for Wilder.

Zolorn

Billy Wilder scores an early winner with this wonderful film. The story, characters, and dialogue combine to make this a classic romantic comedy from the early 1940s, and the legendary writing combination of Wilder and Charles Bracket is as witty as ever. At a Chicago screening in June 2002, the audience was delighted by the comedy and laughed constantly -- the timelessness of this film is just one of its great qualities.

Billy Wilder was a genius, and this film is but one chapter of his saga...

Doktilar

This Billy Wilder film stars Ginger Rogers as a grown thirty year old woman passing herself off as a twelve year old kid, PLEASE!! The storyline is unbelievable BUT....made very funny and watchable by its stars.

Susan is a woman who is fed up with New York. She left her little hometown to find happiness in the big city, only to find it filled with disappointment. So she decides to head back home on the train. When she gets there she finds that she is short funds. Not knowing what to do she gets a hairbrained idea that she could simply pass herself off as a kid to pay less!! When the conductor on the train gets wise, she runs and hides in the compartment of Ray Milland. Ginger makes little SuSu(Susan) so cute and delightful and Milland is funny and sweet as the(obviously blind) military school teacher.

It sounds stupid but it isn't really. Give it a chance and you'll love it. ENJOY!!

Tenius

Susan Applegate (Ginger Rogers) gives up on pursuing her dreams in New York, and decides to return home on the next train. Not being able to afford an adult ticket, she pretends to be 11 (12 next week). This plan is rough to start with, and gets more difficult when she meets a handsome military man (Ray Milland) on the train...

Billy Wilder had gotten sick of his writing being taken by directors and butchered from his original vision. This marks his directorial debut, and it is a brilliant piece of film. Is it his masterpiece? Probably not. But I'd say it is better than many other of Wilder's works.

Can Ginger Rogers pull off being 12? On one hand, clearly not. But, at the same time, any actress that could would probably not be able to be the woman that is hidden underneath the child disguise. For the most part, the transformation is impressive, even if not completely believable.

I absolutely loved this film, and have not found myself more engrossed by a classic film in a long time (and I do watch plenty of classics). If you love Billy Wilder or Ginger Rogers, or want to get acquainted with either one, I would say this is the film for you.

Giamah

"The Major and The Minor" is director, Billy Wilder's, first directorial movie, and it was a hit. About 90% of Billy Wilder's comedies were hits. It's an adorable story about a New York City working girl (Ginger Rogers) wanting to go home to Iowa, but not having enough money for the train fare so she goes as a minor (12 years old). Along the way, she meets a Major from a boys military school (Ray Milland) and gets involved with his life unintentionly and falls in love.

It is an unusual story, but it works. The chemistry between Rogers and Milland is perfection. They made a great team. In 1944, they made another terrific movie, "Lady in the Dark", which was a comedy with musical numbers. This was Ginger Rogers' best movie and Ray Milland was her best leading man. They complimented each other. Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland had something in common, they could do comedy and drama easily. Not many actors can do that.

My favorite thing about this movie is the romance, but the next thing I liked is the supporting actress, Rita Johnson, who was a superb villain in comedies. She was always fighting to get the guy.

I won't say the movie is dated but you do notice the movie represents the 1940's during the war years; it shows how the people looked and acted differently than they do today.

Survivors

The enjoyable performances do a lot to help this film rise above average, and they are what initially made me love this movie. And even though the basic plot seemed to be mere fluff to me when I first saw it, I'm now persuaded that this movie definitely runs deeper. After reading other comments here that delved into the themes, I thought of a particular scene that struck me as odd when I first watched this. At the station, when Ginger first gets the idea to pose as a child, a mother is looking at magazines with her two children- a boy and a girl. The young daughter insists on buying a movie magazine and reads aloud from the cover, "Why I hit women, by Charles Boyer." The way the child says this and the very fact that this particular line is included just stayed in my mind as I watched this film. Others commented on how Ginger's character is always suffering predatory advances- both as an adult and as an eleven year old. Now I see it differently when I think of the scene where Ray Milland is looking at her with one eye closed and telling her what a knock-out he can tell she'll be in a few years. Well of course, he's really looking at a 30 year old, but he believes she's a child and I think this really brings up issues of how sexualized (and maybe preyed upon ?)women are at any age, whether they are adults or children. Well, that really makes this an odd and interesting movie, mixing some risqué topics with highly enjoyable, light-hearted fluff!

Rainshaper

This almost insane concoction is delicious fun, a portent of some of the even funnier moments that Billy Wilder and his collaborators eventually brought to the screen. The cast, given the difficulty inherent in the script (Do all of these people really believe that the adult Miss Rogers is barely entering pubescence?), is note-perfect, especially Diana Lynn, as Lucy Hill, whose powers of observation allow the audience to recognize that there's at least one character on to the central ruse that sets the plot in motion.

Mini-SPOILER to follow: Who can forget an inebriated Robert Benchley's invitation to a rain-soaked Susan Applegate to shed her clothes and step into a dry martini? How did Wilder and Brackett get away with it back when the Production Code shackled the naughtier inclinations of Hollywood's more sophisticated professionals? I'll bet that line alone resulted in an "Objectionable in Part for All" rating from the ever-prudish Legion of Decency!

Akinonris

This movie was charmer, with some funny moments and two attractive likable leads in Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland. This is one of those classics I really enjoyed when I first watched it but dragged too much when seen recently. Sometimes, the more you get used to modern movies, the more some of these classic films can seem too slow. This is an example.

Also (and I am a classic movie fan despite these comments), this film is another example of how much viewers were asked to suspend belief in these older films. Here were asked to believe that no one would suspect that a grown-up Ginger Rogers couldn't pass as a 12-year-old? One look at the very female-like Rogers and it's previous obvious she's and adult, especially at the dance near the end of the film.

Well, if you can overlook that, this is still a fun movie. Sometimes the dated dialog and attitudes of the time period make it all the more fun. Rogers was a great comedienne, not just Fred Astaire's most famous dance partner. She is the big star of this film.

There is a bit of "Lolita" mentality in here as Milland begins to fall for this "12- year-old." They never really tell you here whether Milland knew how old she was all along, however. The end the film a bit too abruptly as the two run off to get married!!!!

As I said, there are lots of holes in this story but it is entertaining enough that you don't care. Of note, too, is that Rogers' real-life mother plays her mom in this film.

Eseve

Billy Wilder began his career in Hollywood as a screenwriter. However, dissatisfied with how directors were treating his screenplays, he yearned to have greater creative control over his films. Though he had co-directed a single film in the past, the ultra-obscure French drama 'Mauvaise graine (1934),' it wasn't until 1942 that he was given a genuine opportunity to display his directorial talent, and a penchant for audacious comedy. On the surface, 'The Major and the Minor (1942)' might easily be mistaken for a silly, fluffy screwball comedy and it works quite effectively when viewed as such but closer inspection reveals an abundance of mature, and even slightly scandalous, themes coming into play. Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland co-star in Wilder's improbable but highly entertaining satire of inherent human sexuality, loaded with unsubtle innuendo ("Why don't you get out of that wet coat and into a dry martini?") and difficult romantic situations. It must have taken a bold director, indeed, to present a grown man falling in love with (what he believes to be) a twelve-year-old girl; a contentious subject even today.

Ginger Rogers plays Susan Applegate, a proud and independent woman living in the city. Wilder doesn't shy away from revealing the darker, even somewhat predatory, sexual nature of most men, and the camera shows countless male heads turning towards Susan as she passes through a hotel lobby, each pair of eyes eagerly passing over her attractive body. When a married scalp-massage client (Robert Benchley) mistakes their appointment for something more than a massage {the early stages of Wilder's preoccupation with marital infidelity}, Susan decides to return to her quaint, uncorrupted hometown, only to find that she lacks the money for an adult train ticket. In a burst of genius, she decides, in order to claim a half-fare ticket, to masquerade as a twelve-year-old, her appearance drastically altered by styling her hair into pigtails, wearing children's clothing and carrying a balloon. That any intelligent human being would actually be fooled by such a scheme is highly debatable, but if the viewer learns to suspend ample disbelief, then many laughs are due to follow.

Ray Milland plays Major Philip Kirby, a handsome and respectable military man, who meets Susan {now using the childish moniker "Su-Su"} on the train, and takes to her almost immediately. After intense flooding brings their train to a halt, Kirby agrees to bring Susan back to his residence at a boy's military school, where she is immediately the sensation of the college. As a young girl, Susan's experiences with male sexual desire change little: the hordes of gawking and opportunistic men give rise to equally-rapacious hordes of gawking and opportunistic boys, and even Major Kirby himself, to his horror, finds himself becoming attracted to Su-Su, as her "mature charm" begins to exhibit itself. In a particular sequence, one that the censors no doubt would have watched warily, Kirby attempts to explain to Susan the "birds and the bees," likening her female attraction to a light bulb surrounded by moths, and, one eye clamped firmly shut, suddenly declares her to be a "knock-out!" Billy Wilder's first feature film is audacious, well-written, brilliantly-acted, and, most importantly of all, very funny; it deserves to be seen alongside the director's other various classics.

This has been one of my favorite movies since I first saw it as a young teen becoming addicted to the wit and charm of so many of the films of the 30's and 40's. I loved it for its humor, for Rogers' combination of sass, guts and tenderness, and for the way it winked at its own unlikely premise. I'd never given a lot of thought to the Lolita-esqe subtext addressed by many here. What strikes me about it now is that it's just one element of the theme of sex-as-potential-exploitation that's woven throughout--from the ogling of Susan in New York, to her unpleasant encounter with Benchley, to her exhausting attempts to avoid male teenage libidos at the military academy. What makes Wilder's treatment of that theme so wonderful, and perhaps why his films are not merely shallowly risqué, is the way that potential is just observed, rather than being the whole point of the movie. The point instead, in this film as in his later ones, is the capacity of mature, clear-eyed adults to navigate past sexual predators and through their own cynicisms to find love. POSSIBLE MINI-SPOILER: That theme is epitomized for me in this film in that last scene where Rogers is gloriously, luminously revealed as an adult, taking charge of her life and sexuality with eyes and heart wide open. I think that's really why I love this film. That, and the fact that it's charming and hilarious.

Cerekelv

I have to admit, when I first read the synopsis for this movie, it sounded so ridiculous I almost didn't watch it. I want to urge others not to make this mistake. This is one terrific film. Ginger Rogers is absolutely perfect. No, she doesn't really LOOK like she is 12, but who cares, it's a comedy. There are many humorous moments, and Rogers' character is quite well developed. Ray Milland also comes off well. This is one of Billy Wilder's finest efforts!

Doomwarden

Paramount Pictures finally gave Billy Wilder a chance to direct his own material with The Major And The Minor. This rather interesting comedy depends a great deal not on just Wilder's writing and directing, but on the considerable comedy talents of Ginger Rogers to put it over. It's not easy for an actress in the full flower of maturity to pretend to be an adolescent, but Rogers was certainly up to the task.

Rogers plays Susan Applegate from Stevenson, Iowa who has had just about enough of New York. After trying several professions and making no headway in any of them, she's ready to cash it in and go back to Stevenson, maybe marry a local guy there. But cash is the problem when she comes up just short of the fare from New York to Stevenson. What to do, but pretend she's a child and travel for half fare.

A rather interesting set of circumstances has her stopping off as a guest of Ray Milland whom she has 'fooled' into thinking she is only an early teen. That doesn't sit well with Milland's fiancée Rita Johnson, a real ice princess who suspects something's up. And Johnson's sister Diana Lynn knows there is, but doesn't care. Milland is an instructor at a boy's military school and the sight of his female guest sends the cadets into hormonal overdrive. Milland's feeling a bit antsy around Rogers though he can't quite figure out why.

Wilder showed that even in his first film he was a master at slipping stuff by the censors. In a recent biography of Billy Wilder that was more important on this film than most because the subject matter was weaving dangerously close to pedophilia.

Paramount was disposed to let Wilder have this project especially after another of their writers a couple of years earlier showed he had the directing chops. But Preston Sturges was given a tryout in the studio's B picture unit with The Great McGinty. The Major And The Minor was an A film all the way because Wilder was able to sell Ginger Rogers on the story. He also brought the film only slightly over budget which definitely insured he would have a directorial career at Paramount.

Robert Benchley is also in the film as a lecherous old goat who is the one who finally sends Rogers packing to Iowa after putting the moves on her while she is trying the profession of masseuse. Wouldn't you know it, he turns out to be the father of a chip off the old block in the person of Cadet Frankie Thomas. Benchley's scenes in the film are precious indeed.

The Major And The Minor still holds up very well after over 60 years, no doubt because of the risqué subject matter. It's a film definitely guaranteed to make you a fan of the talents of its director and its stars.

Cozius

Major and the Minor is a lot of fun. Ginder Rogers and Ray Milland are outstanding in this romp about a young woman who is tired of life in the big city and wants to get home to a small town in Iowa. She convinces a ticket agent to sell her a child's ticket because she doesn't have enough money to get a regular fare home.She passes for 12 years old which was frankly hard for me to believe. But still, Rogers is endearing and Milland is perfect as a Major in a military school. Early on look for Robert Benchley who plays a rich hotel resident wanting more than a combination egg and shampoo treatment. Rogers real life mother can be seen at the end of the film playing same.

Zulkigis

Ginger Rogers usually has sparkle and ladylike gumshun to spare. Still, in Billy Wilder's "The Major and the Minor", her dry, pithy wit and grounded charm are given a real workout. A woman in her twenties must disguise herself as a preteen in order to pay the child's fare for a train trip. After her secret is discovered by the train's officials, she takes refuge with passenger Ray Milland, who is (fatefully) near-sighted. Parts of the picture work a strident sort of magic, most certainly due to Wilder's adroit pacing, however the star performances do help. Milland is very loose here and, although she eventually begins to wear down one's nerves, Rogers is a straightforward presence on the screen (she connects with the audience in a direct, likable way, as if she were an old friend). Remade in 1955 as "You're Never Too Young". **1/2 from ****

Invissibale

A truly delightful and rich comedy, with serious undertones. The first film directed by Billy Wilder, "The Major and the Minor" deals with assumed identity and role playing, as would many of his films, including "Some Like It Hot" and "Kiss Me, Stupid," and as his earlier screenplay for Mitchell Leisen's "Midnight" (1939) also did. The film is full of allusions to what it means to be an adult, among them, a reference to a tadpole that metamorphoses into a frog. On a larger scale, there is reference to the likelihood of a world war, and the kind of national responsibility that would be required in that event. It is of course inconceivable that anyone would ever mistake the adult Ginger Rogers for the 12-year-old that she pretends to be, and that is part of the fun (and there are some unsettling Lolita elements attendant to Ray Milland's attraction to her).

Runeshaper

At first, the only reason I watched this movie was because Ginger Rogers is in it. Then, as I got further and further into the plot I discovered that-- SURPRISE! This is a really good movie. I know, it sounds cheesy, that's what I thought too, but after seeing The Major and the Minor I had a new favourite comedy classic. Susan Applegate is sick and tired of being "stared at, glanced over, passed by, slapped around, brushed off" and generally humiliated. She decides to leave New York and go back to Stevenson, Iowa. She gets to the train station, but since she came to The Big Apple they've cranked up the rates about five bucks, which was more back then than it is today. She notices a little girl boarding with half-fare and gets an idea. A bunch of nutty stuff goes on around the train, then she winds up at a military base. Everyone (except Lucy) thinks she's twelve years old, so she has to go on a bunch of dates. She's even pretty as 12 year old "Sue-Sue", so she has a full schedule in the blink of an eye, leaving no time to escape. After that point a lot of things go on, but sooner or later she gets home and lays on a hammock, looking wistfully at a porch light surrounded by moths for days on end. You'll understand once you watch it, so HURRY!

Faehn

I recently saw this with friends on the big screen (Harvard Film Archive's Billy Wilder Retrospective) and that served only to intensify the roller-coaster of emotions throughout the film. Ginger Rogers is spot-on as Susan (Su-Su) Applegate, and Ray Milland plays a winning, if naive, Army Major. The chemistry between the two is almost unsettlingly electric from their first encounter aboard their westward train. Interestingly, several years later, Wilder was asked about, and confirmed the film's edgy "Lolita" overtones. In several ways, it was a dance around and about the Hollywood censors. Rogers' character falls hard for Milland's, and much intrigue ensues as a result. Noteworthy: humorist Robert Benchley, founder of the "Algonquin Round Table" and staff writer at the "New Yorker," is a standout; and check out Ginger Rogers sneaking in some amazing tap dancing along the way. I found it a very sweet and well-conceived (if largely unbelievable) film.

Ustamya

I cannot claim this as among the great comedy films which would come later for Wilder (I'm thinking Some Like It Hot Kiss Me Stupid and The Front Page) this is certainly very good. Ginger Rogers looks glossy and glamorous in the opening shot and is in the last shot too, giving an excellent performance in a part which could easily have fallen flat on its face. In this she is helped along by Ray Milland who gets every little thing right in another performance which could easily have fallen on its nose. There are plenty of plot twists and turns. The plot ground covered is unusual. A nice touch is that Ginger Rogers' mother is played and very well by her real-life mother.

Modimeena

In Billy Wilder's first American comedy he secured the stage and his basis for the rest of his days in America. His films were always good, and the remarkable thing is that he never repeated himself - every film he made is thoroughly original, and already in his first hit he ventured on some very bold challenges to spice his audience with which proved more than successful. The script is ingenious, and although you know from the start that they will win each other in the end there are many troublesome question marks on the way, and the great issue is how on earth they will manage themselves out of this mess of masquerade and intrigue. Ginger Rogers was always a superb comedienne, and Ray Milland was never better than in the beginning - he later turned to more and more doubtful characters, from "The Lost Weekend" and on, but here he is still sparkling.

The triumph though is the script, so eloquent, intelligent and ingenious, and every detail, although the intrigue many times turns into precarious and dangerous ground, is perfect. There is even some trying suspense, as Ginger at the telephone while the whole army is after her.

Great entertainment on level with the best screwball comedies, and yet this one is rather overlooked and unknown.

Altad

Okay, the audience is supposed to accept that Ginger Rogers, aged 31 at the time, is posing at an adolescent! This is patently ridiculous and if anyone could possibly pull this off, Miss Rogers was NOT the one! Had the film starred a very young-looking and less developed lady (such as Leslie Caron or Audrey Hepburn circa 1952), perhaps it wouldn't have seemed so ridiculous, but here it just makes the common-sense part of me want to scream. I just hate films with bad premises and bad casting--and I am not sure ANY actress could make this premise work. Oddly, this dopey plot was repeated a decade later when Jerry Lewis took on this same role--and he was 29 at the time! While Billy Wilder is a now huge name in directing, at the time he had no reputation in Hollywood so he was stuck with this utterly stupid casting decision. Had he been given this assignment later in his illustrious assume he would have likely refused such a ridiculous premise!

The silly plot occurs because Ginger is trying to buy a train ticket but the rate has recently changed. However, the child fare is half-price and so she decides to pose as a kid!! On board, the conductors naturally assume she's an adult but oddly, Ray Milland is an apparent idiot and has no idea she's NOT a child!!!! So, since he's a gullible idiot, Ginger hangs out in his private room during the entire trip. However, when Milland's fiancée sees Ginger in his room later, she naturally assumes that this 31 year-old woman is a 31 year-old woman!! But, to convince his fiancée and future father-in-law that she is only a child and nothing inappropriate occurred, he brings Ginger with him to meet them at the military school. And, oddly, when they meet Ginger, they immediately assume that she is 12!!! This is dumb AND creepy--after all, it's better that she's a 31 year-old than a pre-pubescent female riding with a strange man!!!

Now whether or not this is a watchable film just depends on how a able you will be to accept the premise. If you can somehow manage to not only believe the plot but also ignore all the creepy implications, the film is a lot of fun...and even romantic (especially at the end). I guess I just couldn't do this and the movie, despite its pluses, just didn't work for me. I couldn't get past Ginger's casting, her ridiculous impersonation of a child (calling it 'broad' or a 'burlesque' is way too charitable) and that Milland's character might just be a pedophile--a very problematic plot to say the least!

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