The Major and the Minor

A remarriage comedy with an unusually conspicuous ephebophilic subtext. Instead of tap dancing, this time the wonderfully versatile Ginger Rogers has to switch between different roles depending on what the situation and the particular man requires (first the conductor, then the cadets, Ray Milland throughout). The initial promise of emancipatory entertainment about a woman who rejects her assigned role is soon fulfilled. If we ignore the unintentional perversity of the main situation (and the intertextual joke with Veronica Lake), the story does not leave the neutral realm of milquetoast witty banter. Due to the numerous risks of slipping into a primitive farce based on changing identities through changing costumes, it is still an extremely tasteful way of showing the multiplicity of roles that American women had to play in the interwar period. In a different era, when society didn’t need women – coarsely written – so much, such a respectful and – with gritted teeth – “feminine” film probably would not have been made. 75% (18/05/2013)