Tuesday, September 30, 2025

The Major and the Minor

Billy Wilder quickly became one of Hollywood’s hottest screenwriters after teaming with Charles Brackett. But if he wanted to keep directors from changing his words, he’d have to get behind the camera himself. His directorial debut? That was a surprise. We're upping our Patreon in a major way for Season 2, so be sure to join today! Patreon.com/TheFilmographersPodcast Social media Instagram @thefilmographers Bluesky @thefilmographers.bsky.social Letterboxd @filmographers YouTube @TheFilmographersPodcast Website https://filmographerspodcast.com/ Credits Keir Graff & Michael Moreci, hosts Kevin Lau, producer Gompson, theme music Cosmo Graff, graphic design Time Stamps: 2:06 – A rocky start in the US 6:17 – “Write some good ones” 7:17 – Peter Lorre & Joseph Goebbels 9:43 – Charles Brackett, Ernst Lubitsch, and Mitchell Leisen 16:05 – “Writing is misery” 16:37 – Keir’s one-sentence summary of “The Major and the Minor” 18:48 – First-time director 19:54 – Casting 24:06 – Shooting 27:17 – Plot summary 31:38 – Mike reacts 35:27 – Keir reacts 38:15 – The elephant in the room 42:23 – “Dry martini, wet coat” 43:29 – Box office & reviews 47:45 – Where can you watch “The Major and the Minor”? 50:01 – The Filmographers Five: Uncomfortable Romances Sources Link to film on Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/the.-major.-and.-the.-minor.-1942.-dvdrip.-xvi-d.-tinse-l_202311 Books: On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder, by Ed Sikov (1998) Various: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035019/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Milland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginger_Rogers