Tender Comrade
1943 film by Edward Dmytryk
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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
Jo 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
- 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
