THE MAYOR AND THE MINOR (1942)

(Week 6: Ginger Rogers)

THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR (1942)

Directed by Billy Wilder

What's most incredible about this film is that it doesn't force us to believe in a ridiculous plot. Instead, it lures us into believing in it; just like the other characters, we believe her because we want to. 

Ginger Rogers stars as Sue Applegate, a woman who pretends to be twelve years old to get a half-price train ticket home. There isn't a moment here where her disguise looks believable, and the film doesn't pretend that it does. In the beginning we see the train conductors questioning her. The she meets "the major," who happens to have a serious eye problem, explaining how he could be so close to her and still not see the truth. When later she is exposed to a wider audience at the military institute, everybody believes her because they have reasons to want to, reflecting how people only see what they want to see.

Ginger Rogers is so charmingly unglamorous. Applegate doesn't come across as a witty, conniving woman. Instead she seems so jaded by life she would try anything. She doesn't get off on deceiving people seems surprised by how much she is able to get away with. At times she seems to be rolling her eyes at them. The film doesn't let us forget that she is a legendary dancer, but finds a way to incorporate her dancing in just the right moment. The scene where she dances becomes for me the most humorous scene of the film.

I won't pretend there aren't uncomfortable moments here, seeing Rogers in childish clothes being rocked in bed by Ray Milland, or later seeing him express his attraction toward her while he still thinks she's a child. There is reminiscence of Shakespeare "Twelfth Night" here, where the romance comes together so soon after the truth is revealed, as if the attraction had been growing all this time and repressed because the disguise was an obstacle. It didn't bother me too much, however, any more than it bothered Gingers' character. She knows he's attracted to her and she likes it rather than finds it creepy.

This is Billy Wider's directorial debut, and already he knows exactly what he's doing. The story is so beautifully orchestrated there seems to be no wrong notes struck. The supporting characters are so pitch perfect it seems as if he handpicked them himself. THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR is a cute little story that knows how it should be told and has no problems winning a place in the audience's heart.