Tender Comrade (1943) User Reviews

Hard to believe anybody could consider this subversive...

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 30 January 2023]

... but it was part of what got director Edward Dmytryk and writer Dalton Trumbo in trouble with HUAC in the early 50s when this film was considered Communist propaganda.

Four war wives who work in a munitions plant decide that if they pool their salaries and resources that instead of four individual run down rooms for rent that they can rent one spacious house with a bedroom for each, a kitchen, a living room, and a housekeeper. They sell one of the two cars they have between them and use the money to fix up the one remaining car and share it. Apparently this is Communism. Let's just ignore the fact that, at the time, movies were being made that were loaded with pro Russian propaganda because the Americans needed the Russians in the war effort. That was then this is now, as they say.

Other than that, it treads pretty traditional wartime material. One wife (Ruth Hussey) was a bit of a good time girl before the war and rather resents the fact that her good-time husband joined the navy before Pearl Harbor even happened. Another (Kim Hunter) got married on the spur of the moment and had to see her husband off that afternoon. Another (Patricia Collinge) has both a son and a husband in the war.

The central figure, though, is war wife Jo Jones (Ginger Rogers), and most of the film is about her relationship with her soldier/husband Chris (Robert Ryan) before the war as she flashes back to various scenes from their marriage. This part of the film uses a strange device. Whenever there is a scene in which Jo reminisces about Chris, the scene switches to a shot of the two of them in the distance, holding hands with clouds surrounding them, like they are in heaven, before launching into the flashback.

This gets pretty sentimental at times, and Ginger verges on hamming it up, but it did hold my interest for the rather long running time and is a splendid time capsule of the war years.

Good at showing the daily problems to overcome on the home front

[vincem41 · 7/10 · 8 September 2009]

I found it an interesting movie because I was just old enough to be aware of what was what during the war years. Rationing, shortages, worrying about husbands, fathers, brothers, uncles, etc. who were overseas fighting. It may seem "hokey" or outdated to those under thirty or forty, but it's fairly representative of what life was like. I agree with a previous commentator - Dalton Trumbo is/was a vastly over-rated writer, in fact if it hadn't been for the fact that he was "black-listed" I doubt if he would be remembered, let alone lionized as he is today. A classic case of creating a martyr. He's heavy handed and lacks subtlety. His mediocre writing is usually compensated for by the talent of the players or directors. View it with a mindset that allows for the ethos of the period and I think you will find it entertaining. Ginger Rogers is almost always terrific, and this movie is no exception.

Democracy!

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 3 August 2012]

That's how WWII wife Ginger Rogers insists that she and three other co-workers at a war plant in Los Angeles will run the house they rent on Adams Blvd. together while their husbands are away fighting the war. She's very lonely without husband Robert Ryan (seen at the beginning leaving for combat as well as flashbacks throughout the film) so she thinks this will be a great way for all four of them (and the housekeeper they eventually hire) will be able to save expenses. Patricia Collinge, Ruth Hussey and Kim Hunter are the three co-workers; Mady Christians is the German immigrant they eventually hire to be their housekeeper. Each of them are totally different so the typical "roommate" conflicts arise, some amusingly humorous, others more serious and political.

What makes this film interesting is the politics behind it involving the creators-both screenwriter Dalton Trumbo and director Edward Dmytryk were both later part of the Hollywood Ten. The hints of communism are really so subtle that you'd have to be a mind-reader or easily manipulated to pick them up. In fact, the film is really so democratic that I'm surprised that it was filmed in black and white, not in Red, White and Blue. It sure has enough stars.

If communism is a group of people, unrelated, living together to make ends meet and forming a community, then yes, this is communistic. But, as Myrna Loy would later point out, that if there were communists in Hollywood, they were not the dangerous ones, and they certainly were not out to take over the country. This movie has the message to preserve it. It is simply a movie that offended the conservatives with its rather liberal message.

Rogers, is of course, the shining star of the film, still hot after a slew of hit musicals with Fred Astaire and fresh from winning her Oscar for "Kitty Foyle". This was the film that ended her long contract tenure at RKO Radio (even though she'd return a few times later on), and she's playing a very complex character. Like her early 30's sassy pre-code women, she's an outspoken broad who several times in the movie wants to kick herself for putting her foot in it. The scene where she tells off seemingly unfaithful wife Ruth Hussey then finds out that Hussey's husband has just been reported as missing after his ship was bombed in the Pacific Ocean is one of the film's many emotional highlights. Future Oscar Winner Kim Hunter is the young and innocent one whom Rogers becomes a surrogate sister to, while Patricia Collinge (Oscar Nominee for "The Little Foxes") is the older and wiser one who is like their den mother.

And then there's Mady Christians as the German Immigrant who fled her homeland after Hitler's takeover, a justifiably angry woman who accuses her own people of murdering their own country. It is her character that is the most political, and that makes sense. If you had to flee your homeland and saw your husband go off to war to fight your own people, you'd be a bit political, too. The issue of rationing is of course one of the film's most discussed, and no bones are made about what a pain it is to have to give up desires like lipsticks and nylons just because the military needs the elements that make them. I have collected World War II ration books found in my family's estate, and they are truly amazing and historical to research.

I wonder what happened with the character played by Jane Darwell when Rogers bids Ryan farewell. She introduces herself to the sobbing Rogers then disappears from the film. I wonder if there was a bigger scene cut out, her being so fresh from winning the Oscar for "The Grapes of Wrath".

Robert Ryan is one of Hollywood's most unique actors, not traditionally handsome but talented and versatile nonetheless. He could do westerns, gangsters and comedy, and in this film, he is a truly unglamorized leading character that seems as real as the situation as the women are living through.

a nice little movie

[timmauk · 9 January 2001]

Ok, this movie IS dated but so were most of the films made during the WWII. This is not a major earthshaking film, just a nice little movie. Even if it gets a little preachy.

Ginger Rogers is more muted in this role, not really one of her strongest performances, but she is good. Robert Ryan, her husband in the film, is actually playing a NICE guy here. This film also includes Ruth Hussey, Kim Hunter, Patricia Collinge and Jane Darnell. They are never really used to a great advantage here.

The story is simple enough. These women were left behind by their men who went of to war. They move in together to share expenses and responsibility. They try to run the house democratically but run into problems. If you are looking for a nice little movie to watch, this can be that movie. I do have this in my video collection and have watched it about 3 times.

Homefront Politics

[atlasmb · 6/10 · 15 December 2015]

Released in 1943/1944, "Tender Comrade" gets its title from a poem called "My Wife", by Robert Louis Stevenson, which glowingly lists the wonderful traits of his wife. The first line of the third stanza reads: "Teacher, tender, comrade, wife". Note the comma that separates the words "tender" and "comrade". He was not describing a comrade who is tender, but a comrade who also tends.

The film starts with written lines from the poem, then graphically extracts the two words of the title. Were they trying to honor Stevenson with their attribution? Or were they trying to make it clear that the word "comrade" was not an overt effort to allude to the common communistic sobriquet? Regardless, given the overreaching sophistry of those who found communist tendencies everywhere, it is a wonder someone didn't find guilt by association, given Stevenson's atheism and his socialist leanings.

The film is written by Dalton Trumbo--one of the best screenwriters of all time. Author of the great anti-war novel, "Johnny Got His Gun", Trumbo also authored the screenplays for "Exodus", "Spartacus", and "Roman Holiday". He was awarded two Oscars.

Trumbo joined the Communist Party in 1943. It was not illegal to do so and at the time, Russia was an ally of the U.S. in WWII. Clearly, Trumbo was anti-fascist. Was he anti-American in any way? An examination of the film may clarify his views.

The story of the film, like most of its time, is clearly aligned with war efforts on the homefront and includes much of the patriotic propaganda that was prevalent. As you might guess, with a title that refers to wives, "Tender Comrade" focuses on the wartime lives of wives whose husbands are serving in the military.

Four women who work in the Douglas aircraft plant a la Rosie the Riveter, decide to combine their meager paychecks so that they can afford a larger home and achieve greater purchasing power. They hire a German housekeeper, whose husband is also serving in the U.S. armed forces. The entire film is written from their perspectives, but especially from the perspective of the main character, Jo Jones (Ginger Rogers). Throughout the film, via Jo's flashbacks, we are taken back to moments in her life with her husband, Chris (Robert Ryan).

Interestingly, the moments Jo reflects on are not all moments of great joy. In fact, they show that the relationship of the young couple, though loving, was full of disharmony and arguments, even when he proposed to her. Nevertheless, Jo is dedicated to the homefront support of her husband and all the troops. She, more than any of the other wives, mouths the patriotic slogans that were so common at the time, supporting rationing, conservation, and every manner of emotional and active support. The men were making their sacrifices for democracy, so those back home needed to do their part.

The term "democracy" is loosely thrown around during the film, which is not unusual, since it had become nearly synonymous with the American way of life since WWI. Early on, the women say they will run their joint household like a democracy, voting to make decisions. They decide to use only one car and "share and share alike". Later, when one woman receives a medal in the mail from her husband, they say it is a medal for all of them to "share and share alike". For them it is a symbol of their joint efforts and sharing is a part of their fight for democracy.

A few years after the film, Dalton Trumbo would be called before the House Committee on Un-American Activities. He would be part of the Hollywood Ten, who refused to give the names of Communists in the film industry. He would be blacklisted and have to work in secrecy, unable to claim his Oscars until many years later. Among the flimsy evidence used against him was the word "Comrade" in the title of this film and the communal living style of the five women. But anyone who watches the film can see that Trumbo's screenplay "does its part" for America, pushing every emotional button in service to the nation's massive and comprehensive effort to win the war.

The truth is that wartime America is not the freewheeling, freedom-loving America of peacetime. The choices made by the five women reflect the extreme efforts made by American society in general. Many freedoms were (temporarily) sacrificed by all. Basically, martial law prevailed over the nation, demanding that all citizens live for a greater good--an effort that might be described as communal.

While filming "Tender Comrade", Ginger Rogers realized that some aspects of the film, in her opinion, had a "Communistic turn", including some of her lines. In particular, the line she objected to was "share and share alike" and she had the producer give that line to other actors, she said. However, if you pay attention, you will hear her say that line when discussing the car, so her memory is somewhat suspect.

During the making of this film, Ginger's husband, Jack Briggs, was serving in the military and awaiting orders, so she was very in-tune with the feelings of concern and self-sacrifice experienced by Jo and the other character wives.

But this film is not one of Trumbo's best. It suffers from slow moments and a disjointed storyline. The acting in the film is uneven. Ms. Rogers' performance alternates between very solid and noticeably weak. In all, this is a vey interesting film, but not exceptional in any way.

Propaganda Piece Marred by Occasional Treacly Sequences

[l_rawjalaurence · 6/10 · 19 July 2014]

The plot of this propagandistic tearjerker has more than a passing resemblance to LITTLE WOMEN, even down to the central character's name, Jo Jones (Ginger Rogers). Four women whose spouses are fighting abroad during World War II set up home together and learn how to survive. One of them, Barbara Thomas (Ruth Hussey), loses her husband during the Battle of Midway, while another, Doris Dumbrowski (Kim Hunter) has the pleasure of an unexpected visit from her newly-married spouse Mike (Richard Martin). Meanwhile Jo remembers about her courtship and early married life with Chris (Robert Ryan) in a series of extended flashback sequences. Manya Lodge, their newly-engaged housekeeper (Mady Christians) looks back on her early life in Nazi Germany and contrasts it with the happier existence she enjoys in the United States. Inevitably the film has a sad ending. As might be expected from Dalton Trumbo, who later in the decade was to experience several dealings with the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), the script preaches an egalitarian message, of everyone pulling together in order to defeat the perceived threat of Nazism. While family bereavements are inevitable, individuals should realize that this is a consequence of war, and should therefore be spurred on to fight harder. This is as important on the Home Front as it was on the battlefields: in one climactic scene, Jo berates Barbara, who displays a regrettable tendency towards xenophobia, for putting self-interest above community concerns. At the end Jo realizes the importance of practicing what she preaches, so as to ensure a better world for her newly-born child once the war has ended. Despite the undoubted seriousness of its message, the action of TENDER COMRADE tends to drag a little; there are certain sequences (especially the flashbacks to Jo and Chris' early life) that become so treacly that the plot tends to get lost. Rogers gives a creditable account of herself, although it's noticeable that she manages to go through the film without one strand of her impeccably coiffed hairdo falling out of place, in spite of her responsibilities both inside and outside the home.

"He didn't leave you anything: no million dollars . . . "

[tadpole-596-918256 · 6/10 · 21 May 2019]

" . . . or country clubs, or long shiny cars for you to drive" the disillusioned War Widow "Jo" laments to her new-born son after her runaway baby dad has been killed during the foreign junket for which he's been yearning throughout TENDER COMRADE. "He died for Nothing; your Dad was a fool!" sums up Jo to her now-financially-doomed son. Unlike Leader Trump, who sagely avoided the Vietnam Quagmire by confessing to The Heartbreak of Heel Spurs, Jo's mate "Chris" is pictured itching for an excuse to desert her Home Front in pursuit of "glory" amid the mob of Crusaders being dispatched to Foreign Lands by President-for-Life "Delano Roosevelt." Whenever this flick's focus drifts away from Chris, its treasonous director and screenwriter ply their captive audience with not-so-subliminal messages urging Redistribution of Wealth, Majority Rule, and Resource "Rationing." It totally overlooks the fact that One Per Center Upper Crust Patriots such as Leader Trump form the Backbone of America, and therefore MUST pursue their opulent Life Style completely uncurbed and unfettered ESPECIALLY in War Times. After all, during conflicts such as WWII, what ARE people fighting and dying for, if not the American Dream?! Nothing makes an Axis of Evil angrier than knowing America's Upper Echelon is enjoying Life as Usual--yachts, golfing, cigars, and all--no matter how badly a few battles may turn out for the USA's overseas plebian adventurers in the short run.

Beautiful story

[todd-136-941782 · 6/10 · 16 July 2020]

This is an excellent story with a great message which supports the war efforts during WWII. I Can't imagine Hollywood making a film like this today.

I'm not sure what the title has to do with the film. Actually, I probably do but I won't let it a good film.

A Great Movie and a Lousy Movie All In One

[alonzoiii-1 · 5/10 · 4 July 2006]

This is the type of movie for which the fast-forward function was invented, as parts of this movie have both fine writing and fine acting, and other parts are dreadful propaganda. The story is simple. Ginger Rogers, husband to soldier Robert Ryan, convinces her other pals working at the war plant to move in together, and pool their assets. The story of Robert Ryan and Ginger is told through flashbacks, scattered randomly through the tale of how five working women manage to live together, even when spouting impossible dialog at each other.

The scenes between Rogers and Ryan are well-written and finely acted. Trumbo and the actors capture (most unusually for almost any movie) how a generally happy marriage works and how a quarrel might develop. Watch the scenes where these two are together. They are (mostly) free of the propaganda that does not age well.

The rest of the movie. Well, the characters are types and serve as mouthpieces for the "We must sacrifice for the war effort" line being sold by the movie. If one is looking for preposterous moments of the cinema, one can flip forward to the scene where our group home's housekeeper gets in a rage because the butcher slipped an extra piece of bacon in the order. (Followed by a confession of hoarding by one of the girls in the house. Followed by an anti-foreigner tirade by the most ethically challenged of the group residents.) There is some decent 'ol fashioned movie rhetoric in this part, but, mostly, this section is hokum.

It's unfortunate that a film with a good cast neve...

[dexter-10 · 3/10 · 17 February 1999]

It's unfortunate that a film with a good cast never really becomes as good as it might. The idea of women working during the war in the war production plants was critical to the war effort, and the attempts at coping with an almost unbearable life situation with women workers sharing a house while their husbands are overseas was common enough to have true dramatic value; yet, this movie never seems to reach its high potential.

The reason seems to be in the incredibly poor script, not so much in terms of plot, but in relation to what seems to be substandard language. It's unfortunate that the actors are saddled with such lines as: "If I see you looking sideways at another girl, I'm going to hit you over the head with an axe handle," "It's okay, mom, he's going to marry me," "Why don't the mice pay their share of the rent," "You don't carry a mop length-wise...you carry it like a fishing pole," and "I'm going to beat those rugs until they sit up and yell 'Uncle'."

One of a kind

[spost8260 · 10/10 · 20 March 2006]

"Tender Comrade" was the only film made during the second world war showing what it was like to be a war bride. It just about covers every detail of home life during this time period, such as rationing booklets, war plant jobs, friendships, worries, "not to talk about troop movements" in public and everything a war bride had to deal with. I'm sure one cam complain about dialog, scripts, camera angles, etcetera, but life wasn't perfect and this film recreates life during a time when "politically incorrect" was not mandatory. People actually talked like that then. They dressed like that, lived like that. This film is as close to factual representation of a war bride as anyone ever got and I, for one, am thankful it was filmed and still lives on. Everyone seems to remember the soldier, but not so much about what their wives, mothers, sisters and daughters had to endure while being left behind to wait for their return. Thank you, Mr. Dymytryk.

It must have seemed like a good idea at the time

[vert001 · 3/10 · 8 April 2017]

Actually, it all still sounds like a good idea. Group of women working in an armament factory while their men are overseas at war. Check. Women live together to split the rent, share camaraderie. Check. Subplots nearly write themselves: fidelity, infidelity, rationing, loneliness, etc. Have it done by a talented cast, a good director, a respected writer. What could go wrong?

Pretty much everything in my view. An overdose of sentimentality is the main culprit, beginning with the lachrymose musical score that insists on telegraphing to the audience the emotions it's to feel despite the fact that those emotions are painfully obvious in the first place. Blatantly symbolic shots of our main couple (Ginger Rogers and Robert Ryan) introduce flashbacks to cringe-worthy effect. Fantastic mountains are made out of molehills (a simple kindness by a butcher to five women, i.e., giving them an extra pound of bacon, is treated as if Benedict Arnold had just wandered onto the premises); (spoiler alert) no less than a 7 minute speech is given poor Ginger Rogers to lament the death of her husband. That she underplayed it with all her might made this ending at least tolerable, but still...

The cast is a strong one. Robert Ryan had little opportunity to play romantic leads, or good guys in general, and does so quite well in TENDER COMRADE. For whatever reasons, Ginger Rogers had better performances, indeed, almost inevitably gave better performances than she did here. She resorted to her usual habit of changing her voice to portray her character at a younger age, but this time it simply made the character seem shrill and emotionally immature, and these flashbacks must have taken place only 2 or 3 years earlier than the present so it didn't make much sense to change her voice like that. The rest of the cast, Kim Hunter, Ruth Hussey, Patricia Collinge, Mady Christians, are uniformly effective. The writing would seem to be the movie's primary problem. I agree with those who consider Dalton Trumbo's high reputation to be questionable. In Hollywood it's hard to say for sure since virtually all scripts are the products of committees (either multiple writers working together or serial drafts from different writers who often never meet), but generally I'd say of all of Trumbo's better contributions (KITTY FOYLE, ROMAN HOLIDAY, SPARTACUS, EXODUS) that the films' excellencies are not dominated by their scripts.

TENDER COMRADE is mostly remembered for political reasons. Mostly the Production Code of that era made any overt Communist propaganda impossible no matter how much it may have been desired by some (though the wartime alliance between the Soviets and Americans did lead to a couple of out-and-out propaganda flicks. THE NORTH STAR comes to mind). Trumbo, of course, joined the Communist Party around the time he wrote TENDER COMRADE, and by his own words he might as well have been a member the previous 10 years. Any pro-Communist sentiments in TC are so tenuous as to be indistinguishable for any but those really looking for them (someone like Ginger Rogers' mother rather than Ginger herself, I should guess). We might recall that Trumbo's noted pacifist novel 'JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN' was written while the Hitler/Stalin pact was in effect and Trumbo's efforts were in line with the Party's, i.e., keep the U.S. out of the war. As soon as Hitler attacked the Soviet Union, Trumbo miraculously transformed into a bloodthirsty interventionist, the Trumbo we see in TENDER COMRADE, to the extent that he informed on possible Isolationists to the FBI, bragging about his efforts in this regard in a letter he wrote to the FBI, reprinted in ADDITIONAL DIALOGUE. While Communism murdered approx. 100 million people (this is not counting war dead. See THE BLACK BOOK OF COMMUNISM for details), the difficulty that Trumbo and his ilk (exceptionally talented in covering up irrelevant details such as the intentional mass starvation of the Ukrainian people by the Soviet government) had in getting writing jobs in Hollywood for a decade or so is, of course, the major barbarity of the last century.

Oh, I should add that the short scene early in the film between Ginger Rogers and Jane Darwell was exceptionally touching, easily the best thing in TENDER COMRADE.

irritating

[marktayloruk · 5/10 · 23 July 2019]

Preachy PC propaganda patronisingly telling people what they already knew. Were I married to a shrew like Jo, would I want to.come back? Hoarding is surely saving for a rainy day and the black market an example of free enterprise. Delicious thought-sequel. Chris Jr grows up to dodge the Vietnam draft!

suddenly it strikes with all the beauty that only anti-capitalistic decency can give

[karlericsson · 2 August 2011]

The first half hour of this film you wonder what both Dalton Trumbo and Edvard Dmytric were doing in it. That far in the movie, it was just a silly Hollywood Movie, typical for the time. And when the four ladies decide they need a maid, you really start to wonder what fascist film you are seeing and then suddenly the film strikes - the four girls decide to split their united salary five times and give the woman they've found the fifth part, since that would be democratic. For that alone the film deserves 10 stars and, sure enough, the film looses a little momentum after that and slides back into American silliness for a while. Nevertheless, the silliness is tender and a beautiful love story.

By the way, need I say that the maid is of German origin and not necessarily a Jew? And then comes those final lines of dialogue about grabbing on to democracy so that you don't loose it - those lines, that make tender comrades of us all instead of competing swine.

Ginger's story

[dierregi · 3/10 · 25 November 2023]

It may have been interesting to see WWII from the POV of stay-at-home (or working) wives and girlfriends, but this is not that type of film.

It's basically a celebration of the life of Jo Jones, the Rogers character, who gets to work in a factory while her husband Chris is away. Jo joins forces with three female colleagues (and lately their housekeeper) to stay afloat while their men fight the war.

Robert Ryan as Chris is in the movie only at the start and in flashbacks that detail their love story. Unfortunately Jo seems quite the shrew. The scene with Chris asking her to marry him is especially grating, since Jo doesn't shut up one minute to deliver her distorted view of the situation.

Given that her character is not particularly sympathetic, the movie drags on quite a bit until the melodramatic end, where Jo gets to deliver an overlong patriotic speech.

There is a reason why most WWII movies are about the soldiers and not about the wives at home in the US, and this is a good example. BTW, I was not impressed by Trumbo's screenplay regardless of whatever was written and filmed about it.

Although a teeny bit "sticky" here and there, still a wonderful drama and time capsule of the war

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 30 October 2007]

While it's true that this film isn't nearly the drama that SINCE YOU WENT AWAY was, it is still an exceptional view of the impact of WWII on the families at home. Despite a very minor problem (which I'll talk about later), the film has great emotional impact even today and I dare you to watch it all the way through and keep a dry eye!

The main character of the film is Ginger Rogers and is about her dealing with life without her husband, Robert Ryan, who is at war. While he does appear in the first 15 minutes or so of the film, he is primarily seen through a series of flashbacks interspersed through the movie. These all give background as to the life this couple shared before the war. As for Ryan, he came off very well in these vignettes, though Rogers' character seemed a bit too petulant to be believable and I was half expecting Ryan to slap her upside the head to shut her up (folks, I am NOT encouraging spousal abuse--relax)! Later in the film she had mellowed quite a bit and was indeed a very sympathetic and good character.

Ginger and her co-workers begin talking after Ryan goes back to the war and they mutually decide to rent a house together and share expenses. At this point, the story involved the the lives of these four other women--their motivations, back story and character. This is all told in a very effective manner and you really begin to care for the ladies.

The purpose of this tearjerker was to solidify the resolve for the war with the people left behind in the States and in this light, this was a super-effective film. Generally excellent writing, direction and acting make this a film that is easy to connect to and like. It also makes the movie a tough one to watch, as you tend to go through an emotional roller-coaster because of all the ladies' trials and tribulations. A wonderful time capsule of the era and a film well worth seeing.

Oddly, in later years, many of those responsible for this film were labeled "Communists" and the film was cited as an example of these left-leaning sympathies. Other than the fact the ladies live together and share their money, I really can't see how any sane person could construe this as Communism--and what's the matter with sharing a home and expenses anyway? I did that a while back and I don't THINK I'm a Communist!!

Tender Comrade-Tender Are Our Years ***

[edwagreen · 8/10 · 17 November 2009]

No, this is not some Russian comedy staged during World War 11. That's what I thought it was about when I saw the title of this 1943 film.

Instead, we get a nicely crafted story with Ginger Rogers and Robert Ryan, a young idealistic couple, whose plans are thwarted by World War 11. Yes, this is another home front picture.

Several women decide to live in the same house when their spouses go off to war.

Definitely a tribute to the human spirit. Flashbacks are well done to show that the problems that Ryan and Rogers encountered with their marriage mean nothing when our country called upon its citizenry to create their finest moments.

While the movie ends on a down note, Rogers' final lines may be regarded as a bit too preachy; however, they were needed and served the country well during one its many critical periods.

Romantic, Dramatic, Tender Ww2 Home-front Movie.

[JRis1-4Jesus · 9/10 · 25 October 2005]

This romantic and exciting movie may have been made as early as 1942, the year after Pearl Harbor. The outcome of the war was no where near certain. The Germans were in complete control of Europe and parts of Africa. The Germans were bombing London daily. The Japanese controlled all of Southeast Asia, from Korea and Manchuria in the north to the Philippines in the south Pacific. The third member of the Axis, Italy had the largest air force in the world at the outbreak of world war 2. Our Pacific fleet was reeling from the losses at Pearl Harbor and from our losses at the victory at Midway. The French fleet was about to surrender.

It is essentially the story of five women in the United States. Ginger Rogers as Jo Jones, Ruth Hussey as Barbara Thomas, Patricia Collinge as Helen Stacey, Kim Hunter as Doris Dumbrowski, the young very recently(war time romance)married young lady and Mady Christians as Manya Lodge. Four of them work together in a defense plant and the fifth (Manya) is a German-American who cannot be hired (there was a great deal of prejudice and wariness of both Germans and Japanese). The story has an emphasis on the Chris Jones family (Ginger Rogers and her husband High School sweetheart Robert Ryan). They are a non religious, Midwestern family, who act very normal for the 1940s. Ginger Rogers (who neither smoked, nor drank) is shown lighting up a cigarette and joyfully partaking in an alcoholic beverage. This was the way of the Hollywood world of the 1940s.

All five ladies are married and have husbands serving in the armed forces. One of the ladies has a bad marriage and is hurting and seeking affirmation in the world. She thinks nothing of an extra pound of bacon or a little cheating on your rations or a date with an older man. (Yes, they rationed certain foods and fuels in WW2). Ginger Rogers and Manya, the German American whose husband is also in the US Army are very upset at the slightest cheating on the rationing system, as they reason that if 20 million women are cheating, only a pound of this or that a day, then the Army will be shorted their full supplies.

Jo Jones(Ginger Rogers) who was visited by her husband just before he left for overseas, has a baby. The woman who is upset at her naval husband and about to go out on the town with an older man (late 40s) hears the news that her husband's ship has been sunk in the battle for Midway. Watch this movie, as this true representation of what was happening on the home front of World War Two is played out. Does the woman whose husband is on the lost ship, do the right thing? How does the young woman whose husband left after their marriage, but before they could have any type of a honeymoon, fare compared to those ladies who were married for sometime? How does the baby turn out? Do all the husbands survive or are some lost to make this world a better and safer place for their wives and families? This is an historically accurate movie. The parts are well played, the story (stories) ring true. You will enjoy this movie, but I must warn even the most macho men, that you may find your eyes misting over on a couple of occasions, including at the very heart touching ending.

Army wife

[MissyWQ · 10/10 · 24 August 2001]

So many wives went through same as Ginger Rogers in film. (Husband died in war) She was such a great dramatic actress as well as a dancer. She showed such courage, alone with a baby. he was a role model for me alone with children. (I met the man who played her husband in film, Robert Ryan. In real life he was very courageous in his illness and losses.)

Excellent Movie

[broadwaylady-1 · 10/10 · 1 May 2006]

I remember when we first got cable and had AMC. (This was back when AMC really did show the golden oldies... real classics.) It was at the beginning of the summer, and so of course i spent my days watching AMC, and my evenings watching I Love Lucy. This was on AMC twice one week, and I loved it. I have been searching for a copy of it ever since. I have checked every movie rental place (including one with dozens and dozens of the good old movies... Gene Kelly, Ava Gardner, etc.) and no one nearby seems to have one. Not even on ebay could I find a copy. I have craved this movie ever since that summer, and remember it as being one of the best movies I had ever seen. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in this type of movie. It is excellent. I miss it so much, I just wish i could see it again.

Great cast overcomes mediocre script

[morrisonhimself · 8/10 · 26 January 2005]

Ginger Rogers was a much better actress than Dalton Trumbo was a writer (and she had much prettier legs).

In fact, in "Tender Comrade," Trumbo presents us with a puzzle: How could a writer responsible for so much hokey, amateurish dialogue (noted by other reviewers) ever get a reputation as being a great or even a good writer? I admit there were two bright spots in "Tender Comrade" that deserve appreciation for the writer: near the beginning, when two strangers comfort each other as their loved ones depart for the war, and when one character tells another how her marriage "proposal" came about.

Trumbo, though, being Trumbo later has a silly bit when Jo refers to the socialist plan the group adopts ("from each according to her ability …") as "democracy," further demonstrating his confusing of two different and distinct applications as the same.

"Democracy" is a more or less political term describing how leaders are chosen (if, for some reason, anyone wants leaders), and "socialism" is a more or less economic term and more or less philosophical term describing how material goods are more or less shared – distributed, anyway. ("Socialism" means government ownership of the means of production, to be more pedantic.) There was nothing wrong with the democratically decided idea of voluntary communalism among the housemates, but if a viewer knows Trumbo's predilection for collectivism – at least for others, though not so much for himself – the whole scene is discomfiting.

(An excellent book that portrays Trumbo and others, and shows the dichotomy between what they preached, including sometimes in their scripts, and how they lived is "Hollywood Party: How Communism Seduced the American Film Industry in the 1930s and 1940s" by Lloyd Billingsley. It is probably the best book yet on that era. Read especially about Trumbo and his mansion and the lavish parties he loved to throw, even during the times the soldiers were dying.)

Jo's last monologue went on for too long, and really didn't say much – it was apparently another failed attempt by Trumbo at being profound and dramatic.

But Ginger Rogers said a lot, even with Trumbo's words. She was a much, much better actress than she seems to be generally regarded. She was much, much more than a great dancer.

With all my complaints about Trumbo, his moronic politics, the lame plot, and his poor writing, still this is a pretty good movie.

It brings back, though not especially well, a particular time in American history.

One of the great ironies of that era: Trumbo waxed indignant about the Nazis and the war they instigated. Yet it is the politics of Trumbo and the other collectivists, Nazis and Communists and other kinds of socialists and fascists, that together created the climate that allowed the unmitigated horrors of World War II.

The collectivist notions that people are not sovereign individuals but are cogs in the machinery of the state, that they must obey their masters, that they must cheerfully march off to war, to kill and/or be killed, that led to the tens of millions of deaths.

Trumbo must share the blame for that evil. He was a vehement proponent of that vicious nonsense.

Still, the cast overcomes the weaknesses of the script. If you watch it on Turner Classic Movies, ignore Robert Osborne's ignorant introduction and closing comments, and concentrate on the people, on their concerns and their efforts at overcoming adversity, on how they deal with their menfolks' being in harm's way, on their daily difficulties, including rationing.

"Tender Comrade" is worth watching.

20% of the Hollywood Ten

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 17 May 2019]

I think it was sad that Ginger Rogers spent so much time trashing this movie Tender Comrade over politics. It contains one of her best performances.

Rogers was a member in good standing of Hollywood's right wing and Tender Comrade came under the scrutiny of the House Un-American Activities Committee. With writer Dalton Trumbo and director Edward Dmytryk two of the Hollywood Ten involved it had a star place in the proceedings.

With the word 'comrade' in the title that's if you'll pardon the pun a red flag in front of these bulls. I mean isn't that what Communists call each other? And the plot concerning four Rosie the Riveteer types teaming up to buy a house and share expenses for the duration, clearly Communist and subverting the American ideal of rugged individualism. And dialog talking about a more unselfish world. This bares investigation.

Ginger, along with other marrieds Ruth Hussey, Patricia Collinge, and Kim Hunter all decide to live together and it seems like a practical decision. They make another one when since they're all doing factory work and come home bone tired they pool part of their salaries and hire a live-in housekeeper Mady Christians. This woman is a refugee from Germany and she provides some valuable insights into the foe their husbands are fighting.

Tender Comrade like so many films of the WW2 era talked a lot about building a better world and God knows what is wrong with that? It turned out to be a dream, but God help us if we ever have a world where no one dreams of making it better.

We also have some flashback scenes that are done well with Ginger and her husband Robert Ryan in the service. They show a typical Mr.&Mrs. Young America at the time and they had a universal identification.

Kim Hunter's husband comes home on leave and he's played by Richard Martin, one of the few times you will see him on film not playing Chit Jose Gonzalez Bustamante Rafferty. Treasure this film for that alone. And also for Ginger Rogers fine and eloquent soliliquy at the end.

It wasn't only Dmytryk and Trumbo who got blacklisted. So did Kim Hunter, Patricia Collinge, and Mady Christians. Lot of political casualties came out of this very fine film about the WW2 homefront.

Soldiers' wives making the best of it while trying in vain not to miss their husbands in the uncertainty of the war.

[clanciai · 9/10 · 29 December 2017]

A great film about a small world, the reality of four young wives with their husbands out in the war, sharing a common household to minimize expenses but not managing very well, so they hire a housemaid, who happens to come from Dresden, Germany, with fresh experience of the nastiness of the nazism that murdered that democracy. Yes, there is much war propaganda here, the year was 1943, so it was inevitable, but just forget it, and concentrate on the excellent direction of Edward Dmytryk (as usual) in bringing to life the reality of these soldiers' wives, one of them being Ginger Rogers (for once without any song or dance) and her husband being Robert Ryan as young and fresh and handsome as Gregory Peck. The best scenes are flashbacks of their marriage before the war, which gives a very intimate and interesting insight into the art of direction by Edward Dmytryk. He must have had an expert hand with women.

And that's not all. The script is by a young and early Dalton Trumbo, later one of the best script writers of Hollywood after Ben Hecht, and the music adds to it as well. It's almost all domestic scenes inside the common house of the five dames, but it is outstanding as a chamber play. Some get their husbands back from the war, others do not. It is a unique film in its sensitivity of rendering the reality of soldiers' wives some justice and intimate documentation.

Reds In The Heads

[writers_reign · 8/10 · 4 November 2016]

For better or worse this is one of the movies always cited when the subject of HUAC comes up, more than likely because writer Dalton Trumbo and director Edward Dymytryck were prominent members of the 'Hollywood Ten' and both served prison sentences. Ginger Rogers was, of course, in private life, a tad to the right of Ghengis Kahn and took exception to some of the dialogue she was asked to speak; the problem was solved by giving the dialogue to Mady Christians, the best actress in the film by a country mile and underused here. Seeing it now, for the first time, I enjoyed it as a wedge of social history and fine acting across the board. It also affords an early glimpse of Kim Hunter, who made her film debut in two films both released in the same year. Well worth a look.

Goofs

[printchicku · 22 July 2020]

I disagree with the goof that Robert Ryan is not whistling when coming through the laundry. In close examination, you hear the whistling, see his feet walking toward the laundry line. Then see his face, lips slightly puckered, he draws a breath and continues, just through his lips, but without his lips all bunched up. It's of course possible to whistle this way. I do it all the time!