18. The Major and the Minor

The Major and the Minor is one of my favorite films, despite the completely ridiculous premise.

Susan Applegate (Ginger Rogers) is a girl from Iowa trying to make it in New York City. After a year and a lot of jobs, she decides to move back to Iowa and marry the man waiting for her. She has to take the train back to Stevenson, Iowa, but the fare has gone up and she has to pose as a twelve year-old in order to pay her way, thus becoming the title's "minor." While thwarting the suspicious conductors, she ends up in the drawing room of Major Kirby (Ray Milland) who buys her as a twelve year-old and takes her in for the night.

The next morning Sue-Sue (the childish name Susan takes on for her minor persona) is found by Major Kirby's fiance, and she ends up coming back to the military school with him to prove that he wasn't cheating on his fiance. So Sue-Sue spends a few days at the military academy fraternizing with the cadets. The fiance's sister catches on to Sue-Sue's deception (the only person to do so!) and blackmails her into helping get Major Kirby into active service. Sue-Sue eventually falls in love with Major Kirby, but the fiance finds out that she's an adult and sends her back to Stevenson before she can tell Major Kirby about her deception.

The film ends with Major Kirby stopping in Stevenson to drop off a tadpole for Sue-Sue. Susan poses as her mother and amazes Major Kirby with her similarity to little Sue-Sue. Then Susan shows up at the train station where Major Kirby finally realizes that Sue-Sue and Susan are the same girl. There's a big kiss and the end!

The Major and the Minor was Billy Wilder's first film, and it's really quite a delightful comedy. Ginger Rogers is surprisingly convincing as a twelve year-old, despite the fact that she was thirty at the time. (Maybe it's her shiny fresh-scrubbed appearance!) Ray Milland is a great Major and I love his exercises for his "bum eye."

FILE UNDER: Classic Film ; 31 Films in 31 Days Challenge