''Tender Comrade'' is a 1943 black-and-white film released by

RKO Radio Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...

, showing women on the home front living communally while their husbands are away at war. The film stars Ginger Rogers, Robert Ryan, Ruth Hussey, and

Kim Hunter Kim Hunter (born Janet Cole; November 11, 1922 – September 11, 2002) was an American theatre, film, and television actress. She achieved prominence for portraying Stella Kowalski in the original production of Tennessee Williams' ''A Streetcar N ...

and was directed by Edward Dmytryk. The film was later used by the

HUAC The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...

as evidence of Dalton Trumbo spreading communist propaganda. Trumbo was subsequently

blacklisted Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...

. 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 ''Songs of Travel and Other Verses'' is an 1896 book of poetry by Robert Louis Stevenson. Originally published by Chatto & Windus, it explores the author's perennial themes of travel and adventure. The work gained a new public and popularity wh ...

'' (1896).

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 in the war. 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 which they hire a German immigrant housekeeper, Manya. 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 *

as Doris Dumbrowski * Jane Darwell as Mrs. Henderson * Richard Martin as Mike Dumbrowski

Reception

The film made a profit of $843,000.Richard Jewell & Vernon Harbin, ''The RKO Story.'' New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House, 1982. p190

References

External links

* * * * 1943 films 1943 drama films 1940s war drama films American black-and-white films American war drama films Films directed by Edward Dmytryk Films scored by Leigh Harline Films set on the home front during World War II Films with screenplays by Dalton Trumbo RKO Pictures films American World War II films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films {{war-drama-film-stub