After reviewing “Never Been Kissed” last week and seeing that it’s considered a remake of “The Major and the Minor,” I decided I’d better see this film too, and compare them. Well, they’re both about a girl who pretends to be younger than she is and falls in love with an older man who is her mentor. And that’s where the similarities stop. But I did enjoy “The Major and the Minor” on its own merits.
Ginger Rogers stars as Susan Applegate, a young woman who has left small-town farm life to come to New York to try to start a career. She’s tried every job she could think of, and they’ve all fallen through. As the film opens, she’s working for a scalp massage company, and when her overly-frisky client puts the move on her, she decides she’s going back home. She’s saved her return fare this whole time and now she’s going to use it.
But when she gets to the train station, she learns that there’s been a rate increase. She’s about five dollars short on the fare. Not knowing what to do, inspiration strikes when she sees a mother buy a half-price ticket for her young daughter. She’ll pretend to be twelve and buy a child’s ticket.
Going into the cloakroom, she braids her hair, makes some adjustments to her clothes, and washes off all her makeup. She’s on her way, but when a suspicious conductor asks too many questions, she tries to get off the train but ends up stumbling into the stateroom of Phillip Kirby (Ray Milland) a military man who’s lost part of the sight in one eye. He takes her for a child and puts himself in the position of her guardian until the train trip is over. He tucks her into bed in the lower berth of his compartment and comforts her when a thunderstorm rolls overhead. Susan is touched by his compassion and is attracted to him, even though in her current persona of “Su-su,” she can’t let it show.
When Phillip’s fiancé comes to pick him up and sees Su-su, she assumes that he’s been cheating on her. He begs Su-su to come along with him and explain the whole thing, and she does, ending up on the campus of a military school where he teaches. She spends the next couple of days being courted by every teenage boy on campus, but it’s really Phillip she wants to spend her time with.
This movie really showcased Ginger’s acting talents. We’ve seen her primarily as a dancer and her acting skills haven’t been on display as much, but in this film, she only dances briefly and we get to enjoy the other talents that kept her in Hollywood. I did think that in some scenes, the whole baby-act was a little bit overdone, but that wasn’t enough to keep me from enjoying this unrated film.
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