The Major and the Minor

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DarkImbecile
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The Major and the Minor

#1 Post by DarkImbecile » Fri Jun 14, 2019 12:50 pm

Image

From one of Hollywood’s most acclaimed auteurs, Billy Wilder (Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard), comes the charming comedy classic The Major and the Minor.

Legendary actress and dancer Ginger Rogers (Monkey Business) stars as Susan Applegate, a struggling young woman who pretends to be an 11-year old girl in order to buy a half-price train ticket. Fleeing the conductors, she hides in the compartment of Major Philip Kirby (Ray Milland, The Big Clock, The Pyjama Girl Case). The Major believes Susan is a child and takes her under his wing, but when they arrive at the military academy where Kirby teaches, his fiancée (Rita Johnson) grows suspicious of Susan's ruse...

Co-written by Wilder and Charles Brackett (Hold Back the Dawn), The Major and the Minor assumes the guise of a light romance narrative in order to cleverly explore themes of identity and deception. Wilder’s American debut is presented here for the first time in stunning High Definition, with a selection of illuminating extras.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
  • High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation transferred from original film elements
  • Uncompressed Mono 1.0 PCM audio soundtrack
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • New audio commentary by film scholar Adrian Martin
  • Half Fare Please!, a newly filmed video appreciation by film critic Neil Sinyard
  • Archival interview with Ray Milland
  • Rare hour-long radio adaptation from 1943 starring Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland
  • Image gallery
  • Original trailer.
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: COLLECTOR’S BOOKLET WITH ESSAY BY RONALD BERGAN

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reaky
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Re: The Major and the Minor

#2 Post by reaky » Fri Jun 14, 2019 2:11 pm

Is this as queasy as it sounds?

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domino harvey
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Re: The Major and the Minor

#3 Post by domino harvey » Fri Jun 14, 2019 2:26 pm

Not really, but it actually worked better when Martin and Lewis remade it, since that jettisoned the romance entirely and Jerry Lewis playing a child is a match made in Heaven. The Wilder movie does have one wonderful visual gag concerning Veronica Lake though

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Rayon Vert
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Re: The Major and the Minor

#4 Post by Rayon Vert » Fri Jun 14, 2019 3:10 pm

I wrote my thoughts about it in the 40s list project thread. I wish this would have been announced two weeks ago so that I would have waited for this release for the rewatch.

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swo17
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Re: The Major and the Minor

#5 Post by swo17 » Fri Jun 14, 2019 3:26 pm

Our list project schedule is all mapped out for the next seven years for any enterprising boutique labels wanting to get back in any of our good graces

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Rayon Vert
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Re: The Major and the Minor

#6 Post by Rayon Vert » Fri Jun 14, 2019 4:01 pm

Damn right.

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TMDaines
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Re: The Major and the Minor

#7 Post by TMDaines » Tue Apr 28, 2020 9:13 am

As much as I was cool on the film, the extras on this one are excellent. Really enjoyed the Martin and Sinyard pieces, the interview with Milland is really interesting and I always love to listen to the radio plays.

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Rayon Vert
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Re: The Major and the Minor

#8 Post by Rayon Vert » Fri Jun 02, 2023 10:01 pm

I'll second the last post. Just finally making it to this blu-ray release, and I wanted to comment on how enjoyable it is listening to Milland talk (not about this film per se but his career in Hollywood in general - working with Wilder, Lang, making Panic in Year Zero). Really a likeable person, and when I think about it he's one of my favorite actors.

This is also a favorite film of mine, and Sinyard's able to draw out some of its special qualities. He has an interesting take on how there's a subtext commentary (in this romantic comedy!) about Wilder criticizing America's isolationist policy just before Pearl Harbor hit (at the time of this film), through the scenes of the military academy and the use in the dialogue of talking about military strategies to address the romantic situations. He also mentions Andrew Sarris later on, having changed his mind about Wilder, praising effusively how the romantic apotheosis at the end is one of the most affecting scenes in romantic films, one that brought tears to his eyes (!).

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