Wordiezett So much average

Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

Megamind To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

Taha Avalos The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

StrictlyConfidential Yes. Indeed. I have certainly seen some pretty stupid Hollywood movies in my days - But, believe me - When it comes to stepping over that line into pure preposterous asininity - I'd say that 1942's "The Major and the Minor" really takes first prize in my books.If you can just imagine for a minute a 30-year-old/full-figured woman trying to pass herself off as being only 11 (Yes! That's right! ELEVEN!!) - Then - I think you get a very clear picture of this film's completely contrived plot that (get this) eventually works its brain-dead story into a frickin' romance. (Spare me!)And, worst of all - This movie makes the males out to be the stupidest ones of all - With Major Philip Kirby being the biggest dumby of the lot - Accepting "Sue Sue" (in make-up and revealing cleavage) as a sweet, little tyke of only 11. (Ho-hum!)Anyway - Due to this whole aspect of age deception by the Susan Applegate character - "The Major and the Minor" clearly told me that it was giving an approving nod towards pedophilia... Tsk. Tsk.

SnoopyStyle Susan Applegate (Ginger Rogers) is a hair massager making hotel calls in New York. She's tired of men making passes and decides to go home to Iowa. She's short on cash and pretends to be 12 for a train half-fare. She hides from the suspicious conductors in Major Philip Kirby (Ray Milland)'s compartment. He's protective of the scared little girl. His fiancée Pamela Hill comes looking for him and finds Susan in his bed. Pamela's father Colonel Oliver Slater Hill is Philip's commander.Ginger Rogers is 30 and looks nowhere near 12. That hill is always going to be tough to climb but it would help if she's younger and more fresh faced. Billy Wilder keeps it light and fun in his first directorial efforts. It's a comedic romp as long as one ignores Ginger Rogers' obvious age. In addition, there are some underage awkward hijinx.

dougdoepke No need to recap the familiar plot.Thanks to a winning Ginger Rogers, the difficult impersonation of a 12-year old is brought off in charming fashion. Never mind that the actress is actually 30; we're willing to suspend disbelief because of Roger's skill at girlish innocence. The first part is a real hoot, especially with a randy Robert Benchley getting a scrambled egg along with a scalp rub. The train ride too amounts to a sparkly farce as Rogers has to manage sleeping arrangements with Milland in a single compartment. Also, shouldn't overlook Milland's avuncular charm as the good Samaritan "uncle". Any slip on his part with a presumed adolescent and the comedic aspect collapses. But once events reach the military school where Milland instructs, the narrative settles into a more conventional type comedy. It's still amusing but not up to the inspired first part. After all, it's hard to get chuckles from a disciplined cadet corps. I guess my only complaint is that the deliciously droll Benchley doesn't get more screen time. Just his presence is enough to get me chuckling.Anyway, it's tricky subject matter that could have spoiled at many points. Fortunately, Wilder and company manage to keep the amusement rolling in tasteful fashion despite the risks. All in all, the Paramount production amounts to one of the better comedies of the period.

vert001 I agree with many that THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR is a marvelous light comedy with a few serious undertones, but I doubt that pedophilia has much to do with it. Co-author Charles Brackett's diaries (recently published) give not a hint that he and Billy Wilder had any such subtext in mind. Wilder climbed onto the Lolita bandwagon years after TMATM had been released, but so far as I know prior to Nabokov's notorious success he hadn't said a word about any such thing (Billy also said that Ray Milland had absolutely no sense of humor, which seems unlikely given Milland's success in EASY LIVING as well as here, not to mention his fine handling of the black humor in DIAL M FOR MURDER and in other films). So far as I know, the only hint of such a subtext occurs at the end of the 'light bulb' scene, and I'll try to give an alternate explanation of that in due course.It seems to me that the serious subjects underlining TMATM are the thoughts that people believe what they want to believe and that there is a subconscious part of the mind that can realize things that don't quite break into consciousness. The first is a commonplace, the second an idea that goes back at least to Homer. The main example of the commonplace comes when the college committee lets the Major off the hook for having SuZu in his train compartment overnight. It seems clear to me that they immediately accept Ginger Rogers as a 12 year old child because they want to avoid scandal, they want to exonerate the popular Major, Pamela wants to believe that the whole incident was innocent, etc. The vicar even calls it "a wonderful solution" or words to that effect. What adult has really been fooled by her charade other than the Major with his poor eyesight and infinite gullibility, except when they'd wished to be fooled?Similarly, a lot of people accept consciously what they're told (that this is a 12 year old girl) while subconsciously noticing that something isn't right. Lucy tells SuZu that she isn't 12 because she acts like she's 6. Notice that Susan Applegate never acts like she's 6 again after realizing that she'd been overdoing it. The quips become very mature from that point on ("Are you sure you're not mulling over yesterday's lesson?"). There's no real reason to believe that the cadets were ever told SuZu's assumed age, and they sense that they've lucked into a lot more than a youthful companion! I'd say that that's what has begun to penetrate the Major's consciousness in the Light Bulb Scene, that this really is "a beautiful young lady" rather than a precocious child. Notice SuZu's struggles to keep a straight face while the Major is fumbling over the facts of life. A part of the Major has noticed, too (and we should all notice how subtly brilliant this performance by Ginger Rogers is).Be that as it may, I'd say that the ending of the movie would play better if we assume that the Major realizes the truth before coming to Iowa, having been told by Lucy (after Pamela's marriage to someone else, why would Lucy keep up the pretense?). Then his immediate acceptance of the adult Susan at the end makes sense. However, Milland really doesn't play it that way. Oh well.I'll close by emphasizing that the movie is very funny, Ginger Rogers is superb in it (her use of various voices is terrific) and Milland is excellent, as are all the supporting actors. The switchboard scene is as good as they get. Wilder was off to an excellent start.