The Major and the Minor
| The Major and the Minor | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
|
|
| Directed by | Billy Wilder |
| Produced by | Arthur Hornblow, Jr. |
| Written by | Billy Wilder Charles Brackett Based on a play by Edward Childs Carpenter |
| Starring |
Ginger Rogers Ray Milland |
| Music by | Robert Emmett Dolan |
| Cinematography | Leo Tover |
| Edited by | Doane Harrison |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
100 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $2.5 million (rentals) |
The Major and the Minor is a 1942 American comedy film starring Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland. It was the first American film directed by Billy Wilder, and launched his "incomparable" directing career. The screenplay by Wilder and Charles Brackett is based on the play Connie Goes Home by Edward Childs Carpenter.
After her client Albert Osborne (Robert Benchley) makes a pass at her, Susan Applegate (Ginger Rogers) quits her job as a scalp massager for the Revigorous System and decides to leave New York City and return home to Stevenson, Iowa. Upon arriving at the train station, she discovers she has only enough money to cover a child's fare, so she disguises herself as a twelve-year-old girl named Su-Su. When a suspicious conductor catches her smoking, Su-Su takes refuge in the compartment of Major Philip Kirby (Ray Milland) who, believing she is a frightened child, agrees to let her stay with him until they reach his stop.
When the train is detained by flooding on the tracks, Philip's fiancée Pamela Hill (Rita Johnson) and her father, his commanding officer at the military academy where he teaches, drive to meet him. Pamela boards the train and finds Su-Su sleeping in the lower berth in his compartment. Imagining the worst, she accuses Philip of being unfaithful and reports his alleged infidelity to her father. Indignant, and still feeling protective of Su-Su, Philip insists on bringing her to the school where her parents can retrieve her. The Hills, meeting Su-Su in person and now believing that she is only 12 years old, agree to let her stay with them.
Pamela's teenaged sister Lucy (Diana Lynn) immediately sees through Susan's disguise. She promises to keep her secret if Susan will help her sabotage Pamela's efforts to keep Philip at the academy instead of allowing him to fulfill his wish to be assigned to active duty. Pretending to be Pamela, Susan calls one of Pamela's Washington, D.C. connections and arranges to have Philip's status changed.
...
Wikipedia