This film was introduced as evidence when director Edward Dmytryk and writer Dalton Trumbo were hauled before the House Un-American Activities Committee, which was investigating them on suspicion of being Communists. Despite the film's many flag-waving speeches, the communal living arrangements of the ladies in the film was cited as evidence of how Dmytryk and Trumbo attempted to brainwash unsuspecting American moviegoers with Communist propaganda. As even more damning evidence, there was the use of the word "Comrade" in the title.
Although there was a Los Angeles premiere on December 19, 1943, to make the film eligible for the 1943 Academy Awards® --- particularly Ginger Rogers' performance, which would fail to be nominated - the movie was not released nationally until June 1944. After the Los Angeles opening, new footage that altered the ending was shot between January 7 and 9 and then on January 20, 1944.
According to TCM due in part to the inability of people in the 1950's to review or have access to films cited as examples of Communist propaganda, black-listers were able to create hysteria by spewing misinformation, pouncing on this movie in part because of the title "Tender Comrade." Comrade is known to be a term used by Communists, when in fact, a title card at the beginning of the movie reads: TO MY WIFE --- Teacher, Tender, Comrade, Wife, A fellow-farer true through life, Heart-whole and soul-free The August Father gave to me. Robert Louis Stevenson.
Screenwriter Dalton Trumbo and director Edward Dmytryk were known for their left-wing political beliefs --- they were among the infamous "Hollywood Ten" blacklisted during the McCarthy-era anti-Communist hysteria after the war --- and Ginger Rogers, a staunch Republican, began noticing what she interpreted to be anti-American speeches in her dialog. Upon complaining, the speeches were given to other actresses.
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).