Tender Comrade (1943) (original) (raw)
Synopsis
Unforgettable
Jo Jones, a young defense plant worker whose husband is in the military during World War II, shares a house with three other women in the same situation.
Cast
Popular reviews
"What does it mean when two people think about the same things?" "Just means they're in love, I guess."
Sometimes it just feels right to watch a sappy wartime romance. ❤️
In short: Ginger Rogers, Ruth Hussey, Kim Hunter and Patricia Collinge spend their days toiling in an aircraft parts factory and decide to split their rent money by sharing a house, _Golden Girls_-style - they seem to fit as Dorothy, Blanche, Rose and Sophia, respectively - while they wait for the husbands and sons fighting overseas in WWII. The film would definitely be of interest for those with an awareness of director Edward Dmytryk and screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, who would both be blacklisted by the end of the decade;…
should have been gayer and more communist
Tender Comrade is wartime home front propaganda about women making it on their own. Starring Ginger Rogers as Jo Jones, it follows a group of women who work at an aircraft factory and live together in a rental house. There really isn’t a whole lot of plot beyond the financial tribulations the women face and the looming prospect of learning their husbands have died in the war. Of the men Robert Ryan gets the most screen time as Jo’s husband Chris. He gives a muted performance playing against type as a pure hearted nice guy. A keen eye can detect some subtle polyamory in the film’s subtext and that helps liven it up some. Overall it’s a fair showcase for Rogers who puts up the most accomplished turn.
Streams on TCM.
Me, before watching the movie: This better be communist propaganda.
Me, seeing the title comes from a Robert Louis Stevenson poem about his wife: damn.
Me, after watching the movie: Hell yeah, communist propaganda.
But seriously, we should be pooling our money together to pay for housing more often and help each other like we're all part of a community -- because we are!
Ginger's speech hot damn: "You're the kind of people Hitler counted on when he started this war. Talk talk talk and never think."
Apparently, HUAC (boo, hiss) used this as the evidence of Dalton Trumbo spreading communist propaganda that led to him being blacklisted and the actress who plays the housekeeper was also blacklisted. and of…
WWII viewed from the homefront starring Ginger Rogers and Robert Ryan. When Ryan's called off to war, Ginger and three other gals (all factory workers like her) move in together, setting up a kind of collectivist household with each pledging to "share and share alike." This all-for-one and one-for-all ethos didn't ruffle any feathers in wartime (it was a hit movie) but later got it accused of being communist propaganda during the HUAC hearings. I would only accuse it of being slightly treacly. But it's well done schmaltz.
Both Rogers and Ryan use "Judas Priest" as a pseudo-swear and I thought that was pretty metal.
Underrated wartime patriotic piece. Yes, it waves the flag like a good war wife should, and yes, it preaches about the morals of hoarding, and yes, it's sentimental - but it was speaking to a legion of women left behind and it is a finely structured tale from Edward Dmytryk and Dalton Trumbo that amuses and moves in just the right ratio.
It also boasts five very fine performances from a group of women who decide to live and cooperate together while their husbands are serving in the forces. Ginger Rogers, Kim Stanley, Ruth Hussey, Patricia Collinge and Mady Christians strike barely a bum note between them, and Robert Ryan is pretty damn good too. The chemistry between Ginger and…
"We're runnin' this joint like a democracy."
Super interesting on a variety of levels: First American film to show the WWII war effort at home, the story centers on a circle of women (all of which are amazing in this), and this film was later blacklisted after the fact for socialist leanings.
The funny thing is the TCM app had some supplementary material included of a previously recorded discussion of the film with Ben Mankiewicz and someone from the National WWII Museum, where they suggest this film was incorrectly blacklisted just because of its title? Did they even watch the movie?! This was one of the most socialist films I've seen in a while, AND it was made by Edward…
I take movies like this with a grain of salt and don't obsess over claims of propaganda, etc. I look at them as a time capsule and leave it at that.
Ginger Rogers is one of my favorite actresses from the Golden Age. She is always solid in the movies I've seen. I thought she was a bit over the top at times but carried the movie well. Robert Ryan was such a sweet, nice guy as her husband. The two of them had great chemistry. I only wish they had shared more screen time.
Edward Dmytryk’s drama in which a grieving mother-to-be moves in with friends to cushion the emotional blows of the war. Starring Ginger Rogers, Robert Ryan, Kim Hunter and Ruth Hussey.
The story concerns Jo (Ginger Rogers) who is employed at an airplane factory in the middle of the Second World War when her husband Chris (Robert Ryan) is informed to battle. Inclined on the help of her pals and colleagues, she advises that they share a home as one in the hopes of saving cash.
Her friends – Barbara (Ruth Hussey), Doris (Kim Hunter) and Helen (Patricia Collinge) – despite all having husbands in the conflict, are very dissimilar. Together, the women support each other through hard times despite the…
If this gets you blacklisted as a Communist, I can only imagine it's a matter of days before the Hallmark channel is revealed to be a front for Russia Today.
there is no reason why ginger rogers should consistently have such sky high levels of sexual tension with women. and yet...