The Major and the Minor (1942) 7.5
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. Director:Billy Wilder |
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The Major and the Minor (1942) 7.5
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. Director:Billy Wilder |
|
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Ginger Rogers | ... | ||
| Ray Milland | ... |
Major Kirby
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Rita Johnson | ... |
Pamela Hill
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Robert Benchley | ... |
Mr. Osborne
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| Diana Lynn | ... |
Lucy Hill
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Edward Fielding | ... |
Colonel Hill
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Frankie Thomas | ... |
Cadet Osborne
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Raymond Roe | ... |
Cadet Wigton
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Charles Smith | ... |
Cadet Korner
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Larry Nunn | ... |
Cadet Babcock
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Billy Dawson | ... |
Cadet Miller
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Lela E. Rogers | ... |
Mrs. Applegate
(as Lela Rogers)
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| Aldrich Bowker | ... |
Reverend Doyle
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Boyd Irwin | ... |
Major Griscom
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Byron Shores | ... |
Capttain Durand
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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. Written by Jack McKillop <jem3@donuts0.bellcore.com>
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!