The Major and the Minor (1942)

Director:

Billy Wilder

Writers:

Charles Brackett (written by) and
Billy Wilder (written by) ...
(more)

Release Date:

29 March 1943 (Sweden)

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 | Love | Bad Eye Sight

Awards:

1 win

Cast

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
Richard Fiske	...	Will Duffy
Norma Varden	...	Mrs. Osborne
Gretl Dupont	...	Mrs. Shackleford
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
George Anderson	...	Train Passenger with Esquire Magazine (uncredited)
Stanley Andrews	...	Conductor #1 (uncredited)
Vangie Beilby	...	Woman in Train Station (uncredited)
Marie Blake	...	Bertha (uncredited)
John Bogden	...	Cadet (uncredited)
Carl R. Botefuhr	...	Cadet (uncredited)
Ralph Brooks	...	Train Passenger (uncredited)
Dick Chandlee	...	Cadet (uncredited)
Bill Clauson	...	Cadet (uncredited)
Ethel Clayton	...	Cadet Ball Guest (uncredited)
James Conaty	...	Officer (uncredited)
Stanley Desmond	...	Cadet Shumaker (uncredited)
Tom Dugan	...	Con Man in Railraod Station (uncredited)
Jay Eaton	...	Man Coming Out of Elevator (uncredited)
Mary Field	...	Wilbur & Margie's Mother in Railroad Station (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Guest at Cadet Ball (uncredited)
Ralph Gilliam	...	Cadet (uncredited)
Kenneth Grant	...	Cadet (uncredited)
Lynda Grey	...	Cadet Ball Guest (uncredited)
Bradley Hail	...	Cadet (uncredited)
Sam Harris	...	Cadet Ball Guest (uncredited)
Dell Henderson	...	Doorman (uncredited)
Carlotta Jelm	...	Margie - Little Girl in Railroad Station (uncredited)
Payne B. Johnson	...	Boy in Dancing Scene (uncredited)
Alice Keating	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Milton Kibbee	...	Station Agent (uncredited)
Stephen Kirchner	...	Cadet (uncredited)
Carl M. Leviness	...	Man in Apartment Hallway (uncredited)
Jack Lindquist	...	Cadet (uncredited)
Ken Lundy	...	Elevator Boy (uncredited)
David McKim	...	Cadet (uncredited)
Freddie Mercer	...	Wilbur - Little Boy in Railroad Station (uncredited)
Edmund Mortimer	...	Cadet Ball Guest (uncredited)
William Newell	...	Ticket Agent #2 (uncredited)
Buster Nichols	...	Cadet (uncredited)
Billy O'Kelly	...	Cadet (uncredited)
Emory Parnell	...	Conductor #2 (uncredited)
Edward Peil Sr.	...	Stationmaster (uncredited)
Jim Pilcher	...	Cadet (uncredited)
Billy Ray	...	Cadet Sommerville (uncredited)
William Roy	...	Cadet Summerville (uncredited)
Archie Twitchell	...	Cadet Sergeant at Main Gate (uncredited)
Gloria Williams	...	Cadet Ball Guest (uncredited)
Don Wilmot	...	Cadet (uncredited)
Will Wright	...	Ticket Agent #1 (uncredited)

Directed by
Billy Wilder

Writing credits
Charles Brackett		(written by) and
Billy Wilder		(written by)
Edward Childs Carpenter		(suggested by a play by)
Fanny Kilbourne		(from a story by)

Produced by
Arthur Hornblow Jr.	....	producer

Original Music by
Robert Emmett Dolan		(music score)

Cinematography by
Leo Tover		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Doane Harrison		(edited by)

Art Direction by
Roland Anderson
Hans Dreier

Costume Design by
Edith Head		(costumes)

Makeup Department
Wally Westmore	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Charles C. Coleman	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Don Johnson	....	sound recordist
Harold Lewis	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Ernest Laszlo	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Music Department
Edward B. Powell	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Conrad Salinger	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Walter Scharf	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Andrea Setaro	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures (as A Paramount Picture)

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1942) (USA) (theatrical)
• MCA/Universal Pictures (1958) (USA) (TV)
• Junes Planning (2007) (Japan) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2007) (Australia) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2007) (New Zealand) (DVD)
• Suevia Films (2006) (Spain) (DVD)
• Universal Home Entertainment (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Universal Pay Television (????) (USA) (TV) (An MCA Company)
• Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• St. John's Military Academy  military school: exteriors photographed at (as St. John's Military Academy, Delafield, Wisconsin)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 (1943) | Finland:S (1964) | Australia:G | USA:Approved (PCA #8270) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Portugal:M/12

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

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

Goofs:

Continuity: When Pamela drives up to the stopped train, from inside the train her paneled wagon looks clean but from outside it is muddy.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Shadows of Suspense (2006) (V)

Soundtrack:

Isn't It Romantic?

cute funny film

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!!