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.

JoeytheBrit A thirty-something Ginger Rogers has the impossible task of fooling all other characters in this film into believing she is a twelve-year-old kid. She gives a good performance and carries the film effortlessly, but you'd have to be blind to believe she was a pre-pubescent child. Some may get a kick out of seeing a grown woman wearing knee-high socks while carrying a balloon, but in this day and age they'll probably find more graphic ways of feeding their fetish.The script gets her into kids clothes by raising the cost of her train fare back home so that she can't afford the cost. Ginger hits on the idea of passing herself off as a kid so that she can travel half-price, but army Major Ray Milland takes her under his wing when she sneaks into his compartment to hide from suspicious conductors. The film starts pretty brightly with some amusing gags, but unaccountably loses its way once Ray and Ginger disembark from the train and the action is transferred to the military college at which he's stationed.This must have been pretty risky subject matter back in 1942, a fact borne out by the way that Milland's incipient attraction to 12-year-old Ginger is explained away by his 'bum eye.' At the end of the film he doesn't seem even remotely surprised to discover that the person he'd though was a gawky little girl is in truth a lush, full-bodied woman. Couldn't believe his luck, probably

bkoganbing Paramount Pictures finally gave Billy Wilder a chance to direct his own material with The Major And The Minor. This rather interesting comedy depends a great deal not on just Wilder's writing and directing, but on the considerable comedy talents of Ginger Rogers to put it over. It's not easy for an actress in the full flower of maturity to pretend to be an adolescent, but Rogers was certainly up to the task.Rogers plays Susan Applegate from Stevenson, Iowa who has had just about enough of New York. After trying several professions and making no headway in any of them, she's ready to cash it in and go back to Stevenson, maybe marry a local guy there. But cash is the problem when she comes up just short of the fare from New York to Stevenson. What to do, but pretend she's a child and travel for half fare.A rather interesting set of circumstances has her stopping off as a guest of Ray Milland whom she has 'fooled' into thinking she is only an early teen. That doesn't sit well with Milland's fiancée Rita Johnson, a real ice princess who suspects something's up. And Johnson's sister Diana Lynn knows there is, but doesn't care. Milland is an instructor at a boy's military school and the sight of his female guest sends the cadets into hormonal overdrive. Milland's feeling a bit antsy around Rogers though he can't quite figure out why.Wilder showed that even in his first film he was a master at slipping stuff by the censors. In a recent biography of Billy Wilder that was more important on this film than most because the subject matter was weaving dangerously close to pedophilia. Paramount was disposed to let Wilder have this project especially after another of their writers a couple of years earlier showed he had the directing chops. But Preston Sturges was given a tryout in the studio's B picture unit with The Great McGinty. The Major And The Minor was an A film all the way because Wilder was able to sell Ginger Rogers on the story. He also brought the film only slightly over budget which definitely insured he would have a directorial career at Paramount.Robert Benchley is also in the film as a lecherous old goat who is the one who finally sends Rogers packing to Iowa after putting the moves on her while she is trying the profession of masseuse. Wouldn't you know it, he turns out to be the father of a chip off the old block in the person of Cadet Frankie Thomas. Benchley's scenes in the film are precious indeed.The Major And The Minor still holds up very well after over 60 years, no doubt because of the risqué subject matter. It's a film definitely guaranteed to make you a fan of the talents of its director and its stars.