Tender Comrade
| Tender Comrade | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Edward Dmytryk |
| Produced by | David Hempstead |
| Written by | Dalton Trumbo |
| Starring |
Ginger Rogers Robert Ryan Ruth Hussey Kim Hunter Patricia Collinge Mady Christians |
| Cinematography | Russell Metty |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
| Running time | 101 minutes (copyright print) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Tender Comrade (1943) is a black-and-white film released by RKO Radio Pictures, showing women on the home front living communally while their husbands are away at war. The film starred Ginger Rogers, Robert Ryan, Ruth Hussey, and Kim Hunter and was directed by Edward Dmytryk.[1] The film was later used by the HUAC as evidence of Dalton Trumbo spreading communist propaganda. Trumbo was subsequently blacklisted. The film's title comes from a line in Robert Louis Stevenson's poem "My Wife" first published in Songs of Travel and Other Verses (1896).[2]
Plot
Jo Jones (Ginger Rogers) works in an airplane factory and longs for the day when she will see her husband (Robert Ryan) again. With their husbands off fighting in World War II, Jo and her co-workers struggle to pay living expenses. Unable to meet their rent, they decide to move in together and share expenses. The different women's personalities clash, especially when tensions rise over their German immigrant housekeeper Manya. Jo discovers she is pregnant and ends up having a son who she names Chris after his father. The women are overjoyed when Doris' husband comes home, but the same day Jo receives a telegram informing her that her husband has been killed. She hides her grief and joins in the homecoming celebration.
Cast
- Ginger Rogers as Jo Jones
- Robert Ryan as Chris Jones
- Ruth Hussey as Barbara Thomas
- Patricia Collinge as Helen Stacey
- Mady Christians as Manya Lodge
- Kim Hunter as Doris Dumbrowski
- Jane Darwell as Mrs. Henderson
- Richard Martin as Mike Dumbrowski
Reception
The film made a profit of $843,000.[3]
References
- ↑ "Tender Comrade". NY Times. Retrieved 2011-05-05.
- ↑ Hanson, Peter (2007). Dalton Trumbo, Hollywood Rebel. McFarland. pp. 70–1. ISBN 0786432462.
- ↑ Richard Jewell & Vernon Harbin, The RKO Story. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House, 1982. p190
External links
- Tender Comrade at the American Film Institute Catalog
- Tender Comrade at the Internet Movie Database
- Tender Comrade at the TCM Movie Database