The Major and the Minor
Encyclopedia
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.
) 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.
Susan becomes popular with the young students, especially cadet Clifford Osborne, unaware he is the son of the client who prompted her to quit her job. When the elder Osborne visits the school, he recognizes Susan and reveals her identity to Pamela, who threatens to expose her and Philip and create a public scandal unless Susan leaves immediately.
Susan returns home, but continues to fantasize about Philip, much to the dismay of her fiancé Will Duffy (Richard Fiske
). When Philip stops to visit her on his way to California to report for active duty, she pretends to be her own mother and Philip leaves without learning the truth. After discovering Pamela has married someone else, Susan rushes to the train station and confesses her deception, and she and Philip decide to marry in Nevada
while en route to his army base.
Mauvaise Graine
. During the ensuing years, he and Charles Brackett had collaborated on eight sceenplays, including Ninotchka
and Ball of Fire
, but Wilder was anxious to try his hand at directing again and producer Arthur Hornblow, Jr.
agreed to give him a chance. Wilder was determined to make a mainstream film that would be a box office success so he wouldn't be relegated to a typewriter for the rest of his career. Paramount Pictures
owned the screen rights to the play Connie Goes Home, which Wilder thought was the perfect vehicle for Ginger Rogers
, and he and Brackett wrote the role of Philip Kirby with Cary Grant
in mind. Their dialogue includes the oft-quoted line "Why don't you get out of that wet coat and into a dry martini?"
Rogers recently had won the Academy Award for Best Actress
for Kitty Foyle
and now was in a position to select her own director. Agent
Leland Hayward
represented both Rogers and Wilder, who asked him to intercede with her on his behalf, and Brackett also urged her to meet the neophyte director. She agreed, and she and the screenwriters met during the filming of Roxie Hart
. They pitched the film during lunch at an Italian restaurant, and Rogers later recalled Wilder "was charming, a European gentleman . . . I've always been a good judge of character. I decided then and there that we would get along and that he had the qualities to become a good director . . . I felt he would be strong, and that he would listen. He certainly understood how to pay attention to a woman." What also appealed to Rogers was the basic concept of the film. As a younger woman, she had pretended to be eligible for a child's fare when traveling by train with her cash-strapped mother on more than one occasion, so she easily identified with the plot and agreed to make the film.
Wilder was driving home from the studio one evening and pulled up at a red light next to Ray Milland
. Impulsively, he called out, "I'm doing a picture. Would you like to be in it?," and the actor responded, "Sure." Wilder sent him the script, which Milland liked. Three years later the two men would collaborate on The Lost Weekend, which would win Oscars for both of them.
As a neophyte director, Wilder heavily relied on editor Doane Harrison
for guidance. Harrison had edited Hold Back the Dawn
(1941), which Brackett and Wilder had written. Unusually for an editor, Harrison was on the set for filming as well as working in the cutting room. Wilder later said, "I worked with a very good cutter, Doane Harrison, from whom I learned a great deal. He was much more of a help to me than the cameraman. When I became a director from a writer my technical knowledge was very meagre." Harrison taught him how to "cut in the camera," a form of spontaneous editing that results in a minimal amount of film being shot and eliminates the possibility of studio heads later adding footage the director deemed unnecessary. In later years, Wilder commented, "When I finish a film, there is nothing on the cutting room floor
but chewing gum wrappers and tears." Wilder's and Harrison's unusually close and important collaboration continued for every subsequent film directed by Wilder through The Fortune Cookie
(1966).
Leo Tover was the cinematographer for the film; Tover had also worked on Hold Back the Dawn. The campus of St. John's Military Academy
in Delafield, Wisconsin
was used for exterior location shots. Principal photography was completed quickly and efficiently. Rogers later recalled, "We had a lot of fun making the picture. It was that kind of story. And even though it was his first film, from day one I saw that Billy knew what to do. He was very sure of himself. He had perfect confidence . . . I've never been sorry I made the film. The Major and the Minor really holds up. It's as good now as it was then."
The film's soundtrack includes "Blues in the Night" by Harold Arlen
and Johnny Mercer
; "Sweet Sue Just You" by Victor Young
and Will J. Harris; "Dream Lover" by Victor Schertzinger
and Clifford Grey
; and "Lover" by Richard Rodgers
and Lorenz Hart
.
The film was remade as You're Never Too Young
in 1955. The gender-reversal version starred Jerry Lewis
as the adult disguised as a child and Diana Lynn
, who portrayed teenager Lucy Hill in the original.
of the New York Times said the Wilder-Brackett script "effervesces with neat situations and bright lines" and added, "The gentlemen have written - and Mr. Wilder has directed - a bountiful comedy-romance. And Miss Rogers and Mr. Milland have played it with spirit and taste. Never once does either permit the suggestion of a leer to creep in . . . Miss Rogers gives a beautiful imitation of a Quiz Kid
imitating Baby Snooks
. And in those moments when romance brightly kindles, she is a soft and altogether winning miss. Put this down as one of the best characterizations of her career. Credit Mr. Milland, too, with making a warm and nimble fellow of the major, and all the rest of the cast for doing very well with lively roles."
Variety
called the film a "sparkling and effervescing piece of farce-comedy" with a story that is "light, fluffy, and frolicsome . . . Both script and direction swing the yarn along at a consistent pace, with the laughs developing naturally and without strain."
American Film Institute
Lists
1942 in film
The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:...
American
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
starring Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century....
and Ray Milland
Ray Milland
Ray Milland was a Welsh actor and director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985, and he is best remembered for his Academy Award–winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in The Lost Weekend , a sophisticated leading man opposite a corrupt John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind , the murder-plotting...
. It was the first American film directed by Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder was an Austro-Hungarian born American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, artist, and journalist, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age...
, and launched his "incomparable" directing career. The screenplay by Wilder and Charles Brackett
Charles Brackett
Charles William Brackett was an American novelist, screenwriter, and film producer.-Biography:Born on November 26, 1892 in Saratoga Springs, New York, Charles William Brackett was the son of New York State Senator, lawyer, and banker Edgar Truman Brackett...
is based on the play Connie Goes Home by Edward Childs Carpenter.
Plot
After her client Albert Osborne (Robert BenchleyRobert Benchley
Robert Charles Benchley was an American humorist best known for his work as a newspaper columnist and film actor...
) makes a pass at her, Susan Applegate (Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century....
) quits her job as a scalp massager for the Revigorous System and decides to leave New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
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
Ray Milland
Ray Milland was a Welsh actor and director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985, and he is best remembered for his Academy Award–winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in The Lost Weekend , a sophisticated leading man opposite a corrupt John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind , the murder-plotting...
) 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
Rita Johnson
Rita Johnson was an American actress.-Career:She was born Rita McSean in Worcester, Massachusetts and attended the New England Conservatory of Music. Johnson began acting on Broadway in 1935 and started her film career two years later. She played a murderess in Here Comes Mr...
) 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
Diana Lynn
Diana Lynn was an American actress.Born Dolores Marie Loehr in Los Angeles, California, Lynn was considered a child prodigy because of her exceptional abilities as a pianist at an early age, and by the age of 12 was playing with the Los Angeles Junior Symphony Orchestra.-Film career:Dolores Loehr...
) 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.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
connections and arranges to have Philip's status changed.
Susan becomes popular with the young students, especially cadet Clifford Osborne, unaware he is the son of the client who prompted her to quit her job. When the elder Osborne visits the school, he recognizes Susan and reveals her identity to Pamela, who threatens to expose her and Philip and create a public scandal unless Susan leaves immediately.
Susan returns home, but continues to fantasize about Philip, much to the dismay of her fiancé Will Duffy (Richard Fiske
Richard Fiske
Richard Fiske was an American film actor. He appeared in over 80 films between 1938 and 1942.-Career:Born Thomas Richard Potts, Fiske was born to Frank and Bernice Potts...
). When Philip stops to visit her on his way to California to report for active duty, she pretends to be her own mother and Philip leaves without learning the truth. After discovering Pamela has married someone else, Susan rushes to the train station and confesses her deception, and she and Philip decide to marry in Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
while en route to his army base.
Cast
- Ginger RogersGinger RogersGinger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century....
as Susan Kathleen Applegate - Ray MillandRay MillandRay Milland was a Welsh actor and director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985, and he is best remembered for his Academy Award–winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in The Lost Weekend , a sophisticated leading man opposite a corrupt John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind , the murder-plotting...
as Major Philip Kirby - Rita JohnsonRita JohnsonRita Johnson was an American actress.-Career:She was born Rita McSean in Worcester, Massachusetts and attended the New England Conservatory of Music. Johnson began acting on Broadway in 1935 and started her film career two years later. She played a murderess in Here Comes Mr...
as Pamela Hill - Diana LynnDiana LynnDiana Lynn was an American actress.Born Dolores Marie Loehr in Los Angeles, California, Lynn was considered a child prodigy because of her exceptional abilities as a pianist at an early age, and by the age of 12 was playing with the Los Angeles Junior Symphony Orchestra.-Film career:Dolores Loehr...
.as Lucy Hill - Edward Fielding as Colonel Oliver Slater Hill
- Robert BenchleyRobert BenchleyRobert Charles Benchley was an American humorist best known for his work as a newspaper columnist and film actor...
as Albert Osborne - Norma VardenNorma VardenNorma Varden was an English actress with a long film career in Hollywood.Born in London, the daughter of a retired sea-captain, Varden was a child prodigy. She trained as a concert pianist in Paris and performed in England before deciding to take up acting...
as Mrs. Osborne - Frankie ThomasFrankie ThomasFrank Marion Thomas, Jr. was an American actor, author and bridge-strategy expert who played both lead and supporting roles on Broadway, in films, in post-World War II radio, and in early television. He was best known for his starring role in Tom Corbett, Space Cadet.-Early years:Thomas was born...
as Cadet Clifford Osborne - Richard FiskeRichard FiskeRichard Fiske was an American film actor. He appeared in over 80 films between 1938 and 1942.-Career:Born Thomas Richard Potts, Fiske was born to Frank and Bernice Potts...
as Will Duffy - Raymond Roe as Cadet Lt. Anthony Wigton
- Charles Smith as Cadet Korner
- Larry Nunn as Cadet Babcock
- Billy Dawson as Cadet Miller
- Lela E. Rogers as Mrs. Applegate (as Lela Rogers)
- Aldrich Bowker as Reverend Doyle
- Boyd IrwinBoyd IrwinBoyd Irwin was an English film actor. He appeared in 135 films between 1915 and 1948.He was born in Brighton, East Sussex and died in Los Angeles, California.-Selected filmography:* The Fatal Sign...
as Major Griscom - Byron Shores as Captain Durand
- Jane IsbellJane IsbellJane Isbell was a minor actress, a bit player and extra who appeared in some major films produced during Hollywood's Golden Era in the 1930s-40s....
Production
Billy Wilder had arrived in Hollywood in 1934 shortly after directing his first film, the French languageFrench language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
Mauvaise Graine
Mauvaise Graine
Mauvaise Graine is a 1934 French drama film directed by Billy Wilder and Alexander Esway. The screenplay by Wilder, H.G...
. During the ensuing years, he and Charles Brackett had collaborated on eight sceenplays, including Ninotchka
Ninotchka
Ninotchka is a 1939 American film made for Metro Goldwyn Mayer by producer and director Ernst Lubitsch which stars Greta Garbo and Melvyn Douglas. It was written by Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett and Walter Reisch, based on a screen story by Melchior Lengyel. Ninotchka is Greta Garbo's first full...
and Ball of Fire
Ball of Fire
Ball of Fire is a 1941 American romantic comedy film directed by Howard Hawks, and starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck. The RKO Pictures film is about a group of professors laboring to write an encyclopedia and their encounter with a nightclub performer who provides her own unique knowledge...
, but Wilder was anxious to try his hand at directing again and producer Arthur Hornblow, Jr.
Arthur Hornblow, Jr.
Arthur Hornblow, Jr. was an American film producer. His father, Arthur Hornblow , was a noted playwright.-Biography:...
agreed to give him a chance. Wilder was determined to make a mainstream film that would be a box office success so he wouldn't be relegated to a typewriter for the rest of his career. Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
owned the screen rights to the play Connie Goes Home, which Wilder thought was the perfect vehicle for Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century....
, and he and Brackett wrote the role of Philip Kirby with Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
in mind. Their dialogue includes the oft-quoted line "Why don't you get out of that wet coat and into a dry martini?"
Rogers recently had won the Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
for Kitty Foyle
Kitty Foyle
Kitty Foyle may refer to:* Kitty Foyle , by Christopher Morley* Kitty Foyle * Kitty Foyle * Kitty Foyle , an American soap opera...
and now was in a position to select her own director. Agent
Talent agent
A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, film directors, musicians, models, producers, professional athletes, writers and other people in various entertainment businesses. Having an agent is not required, but does help the artist in getting jobs...
Leland Hayward
Leland Hayward
Leland Hayward was a Hollywood and Broadway agent and theatrical producer. He produced the original Broadway stage productions of Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific and The Sound of Music.-Early years:...
represented both Rogers and Wilder, who asked him to intercede with her on his behalf, and Brackett also urged her to meet the neophyte director. She agreed, and she and the screenwriters met during the filming of Roxie Hart
Roxie Hart (film)
Roxie Hart is a 1942 film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Ginger Rogers, Adolphe Menjou, George Montgomery, Nigel Bruce, Phil Silvers, William Frawley, and Spring Byington....
. They pitched the film during lunch at an Italian restaurant, and Rogers later recalled Wilder "was charming, a European gentleman . . . I've always been a good judge of character. I decided then and there that we would get along and that he had the qualities to become a good director . . . I felt he would be strong, and that he would listen. He certainly understood how to pay attention to a woman." What also appealed to Rogers was the basic concept of the film. As a younger woman, she had pretended to be eligible for a child's fare when traveling by train with her cash-strapped mother on more than one occasion, so she easily identified with the plot and agreed to make the film.
Wilder was driving home from the studio one evening and pulled up at a red light next to Ray Milland
Ray Milland
Ray Milland was a Welsh actor and director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985, and he is best remembered for his Academy Award–winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in The Lost Weekend , a sophisticated leading man opposite a corrupt John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind , the murder-plotting...
. Impulsively, he called out, "I'm doing a picture. Would you like to be in it?," and the actor responded, "Sure." Wilder sent him the script, which Milland liked. Three years later the two men would collaborate on The Lost Weekend, which would win Oscars for both of them.
As a neophyte director, Wilder heavily relied on editor Doane Harrison
Doane Harrison
Doane Harrison was an American film editor and producer whose career spanned four decades. For nearly twenty years, from 1935-1954, Harrison was a prolific editor of films for Paramount Pictures, including eleven films with director Mitchell Leisen...
for guidance. Harrison had edited Hold Back the Dawn
Hold Back the Dawn
Hold Back the Dawn is a 1941 romantic film in which a Romanian gigolo marries an American woman in Mexico in order to gain entry to the United States, but winds up falling in love with her...
(1941), which Brackett and Wilder had written. Unusually for an editor, Harrison was on the set for filming as well as working in the cutting room. Wilder later said, "I worked with a very good cutter, Doane Harrison, from whom I learned a great deal. He was much more of a help to me than the cameraman. When I became a director from a writer my technical knowledge was very meagre." Harrison taught him how to "cut in the camera," a form of spontaneous editing that results in a minimal amount of film being shot and eliminates the possibility of studio heads later adding footage the director deemed unnecessary. In later years, Wilder commented, "When I finish a film, there is nothing on the cutting room floor
Cutting room floor
The term cutting room floor is used in the film industry as a figure of speech referring to unused footage not included in the finished film. In fact offcuts of film are retained in a special cutting room bin and numbered during the editing process in case they are required later...
but chewing gum wrappers and tears." Wilder's and Harrison's unusually close and important collaboration continued for every subsequent film directed by Wilder through The Fortune Cookie
The Fortune Cookie
The Fortune Cookie is a 1966 film starring Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon in their first on-screen collaboration, and directed by Billy Wilder.- Plot :...
(1966).
Leo Tover was the cinematographer for the film; Tover had also worked on Hold Back the Dawn. The campus of St. John's Military Academy
St. John's Northwestern Military Academy
St. John's Northwestern Military Academy was founded in 1884 as St. John's Military Academy in Delafield, Wisconsin, by Rev. Sidney T. Smythe as a private, all-male college preparatory and leadership development school. In 1995, St. John's Military Academy merged with Northwestern Military and...
in Delafield, Wisconsin
Delafield, Wisconsin
Delafield is a city in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, along the Bark River, and a suburb of Milwaukee. The population was 6,472 at the 2000 census....
was used for exterior location shots. Principal photography was completed quickly and efficiently. Rogers later recalled, "We had a lot of fun making the picture. It was that kind of story. And even though it was his first film, from day one I saw that Billy knew what to do. He was very sure of himself. He had perfect confidence . . . I've never been sorry I made the film. The Major and the Minor really holds up. It's as good now as it was then."
The film's soundtrack includes "Blues in the Night" by Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen was an American composer of popular music, having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known the world over. In addition to composing the songs for The Wizard of Oz, including the classic 1938 song, "Over the Rainbow,” Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the...
and Johnny Mercer
Johnny Mercer
John Herndon "Johnny" Mercer was an American lyricist, songwriter and singer. He is best known as a lyricist, but he also composed music. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others...
; "Sweet Sue Just You" by Victor Young
Victor Young
Victor Young was an American composer, arranger, violinist and conductor. He was born in Chicago.-Biography:...
and Will J. Harris; "Dream Lover" by Victor Schertzinger
Victor Schertzinger
Victor L. Schertzinger was an American composer, film director, film producer, and screenwriter. His films include Paramount on Parade , Something to Sing About with James Cagney, and the first two "Road" pictures Road to Singapore and Road to Zanzibar...
and Clifford Grey
Clifford Grey
Clifford Grey was an English songwriter, actor, librettist and Olympic medalist. His birth name was Percival Davis, and he was also known as Clifford Gray, Tippi Gray, Tippi Grey, Tippy Gray and Tippy Grey.As a writer, Grey contributed prolifically to West End and Broadway shows, as librettist and...
; and "Lover" by Richard Rodgers
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
and Lorenz Hart
Lorenz Hart
Lorenz "Larry" Milton Hart was the lyricist half of the famed Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart...
.
The film was remade as You're Never Too Young
You're Never Too Young
You're Never Too Young is a comedy film starring the team of Martin and Lewis, released on August 25, 1955 by Paramount Pictures, and co-starring Diana Lynn, Nina Foch, and Raymond Burr.-Plot:...
in 1955. The gender-reversal version starred Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis...
as the adult disguised as a child and Diana Lynn
Diana Lynn
Diana Lynn was an American actress.Born Dolores Marie Loehr in Los Angeles, California, Lynn was considered a child prodigy because of her exceptional abilities as a pianist at an early age, and by the age of 12 was playing with the Los Angeles Junior Symphony Orchestra.-Film career:Dolores Loehr...
, who portrayed teenager Lucy Hill in the original.
Critical reception
Bosley CrowtherBosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther was a journalist and author who was film critic for The New York Times for 27 years. His reviews and articles helped shape the careers of actors, directors and screenwriters, though his reviews, at times, were unnecessarily mean...
of the New York Times said the Wilder-Brackett script "effervesces with neat situations and bright lines" and added, "The gentlemen have written - and Mr. Wilder has directed - a bountiful comedy-romance. And Miss Rogers and Mr. Milland have played it with spirit and taste. Never once does either permit the suggestion of a leer to creep in . . . Miss Rogers gives a beautiful imitation of a Quiz Kid
Quiz Kids
Quiz Kids, a popular radio-TV series of the 1940s and 1950s, was created by Chicago public relations and advertising man Louis G. Cowan . Originally sponsored by Alka-Seltzer, the series was first broadcast on NBC from Chicago, June 28, 1940, airing as a summer replacement show for Alec Templeton...
imitating Baby Snooks
The Baby Snooks Show
The Baby Snooks Show was an American radio program starring comedienne and Ziegfeld Follies alumna Fanny Brice as a mischievous young girl who was 40 years younger than the actress who played her when she first went on the air. The series began on CBS September 17, 1944, airing on Sunday evenings...
. And in those moments when romance brightly kindles, she is a soft and altogether winning miss. Put this down as one of the best characterizations of her career. Credit Mr. Milland, too, with making a warm and nimble fellow of the major, and all the rest of the cast for doing very well with lively roles."
Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
called the film a "sparkling and effervescing piece of farce-comedy" with a story that is "light, fluffy, and frolicsome . . . Both script and direction swing the yarn along at a consistent pace, with the laughs developing naturally and without strain."
American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
Lists
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs - Nominated
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions - Nominated
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
- "Why don't you get out of that wet coat and into a dry martini?" - Nominated