Tender Comrade is a 1943 black-and-white film released by RKO Radio Pictures, showing women on the home front living communally while their husbands are away at war.
| Tender Comrade | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Edward Dmytryk |
| Written by | Dalton Trumbo |
| Produced by | David Hempstead |
| Starring | Ginger Rogers Robert Ryan Ruth Hussey Kim Hunter Patricia Collinge Mady Christians |
| Cinematography | Russell Metty |
| Edited by | Roland Gross |
| Music by | Leigh Harline |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 101 minutes (copyright print) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $750,000 (approx)[2] |
The film stars Ginger Rogers, Robert Ryan, Ruth Hussey, and Kim Hunter and was directed by Edward Dmytryk.[3] 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).[4]
Plot
editJo Jones works in an airplane factory and longs for the day when she will see her husband again. The couple have a heart-wrenching farewell at the train station before he leaves for overseas duty. With their husbands off fighting in World War II, Jo and her co-workers struggle to pay living expenses. Dissatisfied, they decide to pool their money and rent a house together. Soon after, they hire Manya, a German immigrant housekeeper. Jo discovers she is pregnant and ends up having a son whom she names Chris, after his father. The women are overjoyed when Doris's husband comes home, but the same day Jo receives a telegram informing her that her husband has been killed. She hides her grief and descends the stairs in order to rejoin the homecoming celebration.
Cast
edit- 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
editThe film made a profit of $843,000.[5] Rogers' fee was $150,000 plus ten percent of the profits over gross receipts of $1.5 million; by 1953 this had earned her $105,000.[6]
References
edit- ^ "Tender Comrade: Detail View". American Film Institute. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ McDonagh, Fintan (7 July 2021). Edward Dmytryk: Reassessing His Films and Life. McFarland. p. 69. ISBN 9781476680927.
- ^ Hal Erickson (2012). "Tender Comrade". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2012-11-04. Retrieved 2011-05-05.
- ^ Hanson, Peter (2007). Dalton Trumbo, Hollywood Rebel. McFarland. pp. 70–1. ISBN 978-0786432462.
- ^ Richard Jewell & Vernon Harbin, The RKO Story. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House, 1982. p190
- ^ McDonagh, Fintan. Edward Dmytryk: Reassessing His Films and Life. p. 63.
External links
edit- Tender Comrade at AllMovie
- Tender Comrade at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- Tender Comrade at IMDb
- Tender Comrade at the TCM Movie Database
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