The Major and the Minor (1942)

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

Writers:

Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder,

Stars:

Ginger Rogers, Ray Milland, Rita Johnson

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ginger Rogers	...	Susan Applegate
Ray Milland	...	Major Kirby
Rita Johnson	...	Pamela Hill
Robert Benchley	...	Mr. Osborne
Diana Lynn	...	Lucy Hill
Edward Fielding	...	Colonel Hill
Frankie Thomas	...	Cadet Osborne
Raymond Roe	...	Cadet Wigton
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	...	Capttain Durand

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

train | military school | iowa | love | bad eye sight | 

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Taglines:

Is She A Kid - Or Is She Kidding?

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 March 1943 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

A Incrível Susana

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$928,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

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.

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Goofs

When Pamela arrives at the stopped train, she is directed left to the train car in which Major Kirby has a compartment. However, when she returns to her car which hasn't moved, she approaches it from the right, the opposite direction of Kirby's train car.

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Quotes

Susan Applegate: You should be very glad I'm not 12. I was a very straightforward child. I used to spit.

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Connections

Referenced in Remington Steele: Elegy in Steele (1984)

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Soundtracks

"Blues in the Night"
(1941) (uncredited)
Music by Harold Arlen
Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
Played on radio and sung and danced by Raymond Roe

User Reviews

Reviewing the review

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.