NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Arrow Blu-ray (September 2019): Arrow have transferred Billy Wilder's marvelous comedy The Major and the Minor to Blu-ray. There are some significant differences from the, already strong, DVD from 2008. The 1.37:1 framing shows much more information in the frame, the image is brighter and has lush, heavy grain textures. The 1080P is on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate (about 4X that of the SD transfer.) It looks wonderful in-motion.

On their Blu-ray, Arrow use a DTS-HD Master mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. There aren't many aggressive moments but the feature has an effectively light score by Robert Emmett Dolan (Murder He Says, Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid, The Bells of St. Mary's, My Son John, The Three Faces of Eve) adding to the film's sneaky humorous edge playing with some bounce in the background. This is augmented by Richard Rodgers' Isn't It Romantic? and Lover, Johnny Mercer's Blues in the Night, A-Tisket, A-Tasket sung a cappella by Ginger Rogers, Victor Schertzinger's Dream Lover. Arrow offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

We get another informative audio commentary by film scholar Adrian Martin who imparts some unique analysis on less-exposed nuances of the script of The Major and the Minor. He talks about Wilder, Ginger Rogers, writer/actor Robert Benchley, Milland, small-town America, the different types of comedy, Ernst Lubitsch, Gregory La Cava, Mitchell Leisen, Preston Sturges - the Paramount system and much more. We also get a 1/2 hour new video appreciation by film critic Neil Sinyard entitled Half Fare Please! and he discusses how Wilder claims he went into directing to protect his scripts,  structurally how The Major and the Minor is similar to Some Like it Hot and the 'magical' final scene. There is a half-hour archival interview with Ray Milland and a rare hour-long radio adaptation from 1943 starring Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland. We also get an image gallery, original trailer and the package has a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork. The first pressing purchasers get a 20-page collector's booklet with photos and an essay by Ronald Bergan (author of The United Artists Story).

The Major and the Minor has some deviance with Rogers balancing between sexual provocation and coquettish innocence. She is 'harassed' as an adult on the elevator and, often aggressively, pursued by the young Cadets as an adolescent. Billy Wilder must also balance this making the relationship comfortable enough to export humor. It works remarkably well. I was very happy to see The Major and the Minor again - especially in this stellar Blu-ray. with the commentary and extras. Another exceptional job by Arrow! Strongly recommended!

***

ON THE DVD (April 2008): I LOVED this. It is warm and humorous and still has an 'edge' reminding me somewhat of Preston Sturgis' later work (he was a writer on this). Really, this film is quite brilliant and thoroughly enjoyable.

Well, there's an Australian, Spanish and French DVD version of this film but this is it's versatile disc debut in North America.... and it's a decent, if not stellar, one.  Dual-layered with a strong bitrate the image quality looks fairly strong - yes, there is some noise and dirt but overall contrast carries the film through a wonderful presentation. Without seeing the other editions I'll bet this is the best of the lot. The captures do a fair job of identifying the strengths and weaknesses.

The unremarkable audio does the job without distraction and there are optional English or Spanish subtitles if desired. Extras are sparse - a 2 minute intro by perennial TCM host Robert Osborne and a similarly long original trailer. I think this is a steal for the price and we strongly recommend based both on the immensely enjoyable film and decent presentation on DVD. An easy purchase.  

NOTE: It was remade by Martin and Lewis as an inferior You're Never Too Young in 1955.

Gary Tooze