Film

The Major and the Minor

Name: The Major and the Minor
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Released: 1942
Cast: Ginger Rogers, Ray Milland, Rita Johnson, Robert Benchley, Diana Lynn

Ginger Rogers pulls off a bravura disguise comedy as a broke working girl who dresses as a child to afford train fare, only to get tangled up with a charming military officer. It's a wartime screwball romance that moves at genuine pace, resting entirely on Rogers's comic timing and the chemistry between two leads who seem delighted to be in the same frame. For anyone who loves old Hollywood's particular brand of clever, flirtatious fun.

TMDb rating

3.5

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy screwball romance built on a sly, dressed-up premise, where the comedy comes from people talking around an impossible situation with crisp, knowing timing.

Skip it if the central conceit is a stretch you have to accept, and if you need the romance to feel grounded rather than farcical, its playful deception may grate on you.

What it asks of you: A brisk hundred minutes that wants you to go along with its disguise and mounting awkwardness, keeping your attention on dialogue rather than spectacle.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Breakfast at Tiffany's1961

Audrey Hepburn in a role that lets her be funny and vulnerable at once, chasing romantic connection while reinventing herself. Like Rogers, she carries the whole film on sheer charm and comic intelligence.

But The romantic resolution feels engineered rather than earned, and some cultural attitudes haven't aged gracefully.

Sabrina1954

Audrey Hepburn again, this time caught between two brothers with Bogart and Holden in support. It has that same effortless elegance and romantic misdirection that keeps you guessing who ends up where.

But The setup—a chauffeur's daughter tangled up with the wealthy men she serves—relies on class dynamics that feel dated and occasionally uncomfortable.

It Happened One Night1934

The granddaddy of screwball romance: two people thrown together, bickering their way toward genuine feeling. Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert have the exact same energy as Rogers and Milland—witty, physical, and genuinely attracted to each other.

But Some of the gender politics read as condescending now, and the pacing occasionally stutters in the middle stretch.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Major and the Minor

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Some Like It Hot1959

Both films turn on elaborate gender disguise as the engine of comedy and romance, using mistaken identity to expose what characters really feel when they can't perform their usual roles.

Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon dressed as women to hide from mobsters, Marilyn Monroe as the object of their deception. It's the direct descendant of Major and Minor's disguise plot, but pushes the comedy and emotional stakes to a level that feels genuinely modern.

But The film is very long, the pacing loses momentum in the second act, and some of the misogynist humor doesn't age well despite the film's general sophistication.

Bringing Up Baby1938

Cary Grant opposite Katharine Hepburn in pure controlled chaos. The comedy is faster and loonier than Major and Minor, but shares that same delighted speed and mutual respect between leads who never talk down to each other.

But The screwball energy is relentless—some people find it exhausting rather than exhilarating, and the leopard subplot is genuinely odd.

Ball of Fire1941

Barbara Stanwyck as a nightclub singer hiding out with seven professors. It's the same shape as Major and Minor—deception, class collision, genuine chemistry—but Stanwyck brings a different kind of warmth to the con.

But The tonal shifts between comedy and sentiment can feel abrupt, and the ending wraps things up almost too neatly.

The Philadelphia Story1940

Cary Grant, James Stewart, and Katherine Hepburn in a romance so confident it lets all three be funny and flawed at once. The dialogue is sharper than a knife, and the love triangle actually matters.

But The pace is glacial compared to faster screwball comedies, and it's entirely built for an audience that enjoys witty banter more than plot.

Singin' in the Rain1952

Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor with Debbie Reynolds in the role that should have made her a star. It has that same joy in performance and physical comedy that makes Major and Minor so watchable.

But The middle section drags, and the Hollywood backstage plot is generic even for 1952—you're really here for the musical numbers and the charm.

Roman Holiday1953

Audrey Hepburn as a runaway princess, Gregory Peck as the reporter who finds her. It's gentler than screwball comedy but has that same dynamic of two people from different worlds finding real connection.

But The romance is bittersweet by design, which some people find beautiful and others find like biting into a lemon, and the pacing is deliberately unhurried.

Adam's Rib1949

Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn as married lawyers on opposite sides of a case. It has the wit and rapport of Major and Minor, but adds real intelligence about gender and power to the mix.

But The comedy is dryer and more cerebral than pure screwball, and the gender politics, while progressive for 1949, still reflect attitudes that sting a little now.

Sincerely Yours1955

Both are films that trust the audience to feel genuine emotion while watching something fundamentally artificial and theatrical. They're not cynical about sentiment the way later films became—they believe in the feeling even when the plot is contrived.

A strange melodrama about a pianist who goes deaf and communicates by writing, with Liberace playing himself in a supporting role. It's ridiculous and sincere at once, with genuine feeling buried under Hollywood schmaltz and tinny emotion.

But The emotional manipulation is shameless, the plot is melodramatic to the point of absurdity, and Liberace's presence is deeply weird. It's kitsch, full stop.

His Girl Friday1940

Where Major and Minor uses disguise as the engine of romance, His Girl Friday uses the workplace as the arena where two equally matched people reveal who they really are. Both films believe that the best romantic partner is the one who can make you laugh and keep up with you.

Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell in a newsroom screwball that moves so fast you can barely catch your breath. The dialogue overlaps and crashes like jazz, and Russell gets to be as sharp and funny as any man on the screen—sharper, really.

But The overlapping dialogue, while brilliant, makes it genuinely hard to hear sometimes. You may miss jokes on the first watch, and the newsroom plotting is secondary to the repartee.