This is a fine and interesting movie up until Miss Sullavan appears. Then the ride to Boringville begins. She is neither a good enough actress nor attractive enough to hold your attention. She does not make her character at all dear enough to care about, which makes you wonder why the three male leads come to adore her. This was almost impossible to sit through. What could have been a strong dramatic story about three WWI Comrades-in- arms coping with the trials of post war Germany, is ruined by teary melodramatics centered on Sullavan. Too bad.

This movie was notable for: the subtle and mysterious acting of Margaret Sullavan; the screenplay by Scott Fitzgerald (which was literary and a bit on the wordy side); and the interesting look at Germany immediately after WWI. Personally, I would have liked to have seen more about the politics and tensions in Germany (playing up Robert Young's role), and less of the Camille-esque love & decline plot. But that's just me.I thought that the film was carried by Franchot Tone and Margaret Sullavan. Tone's role is nicely played down; he consistently does the right thing, even when it might appear to be the morally wrong thing. He's sure, calm, and direct at every turn. I always enjoy watching him. Sullavan was fascinating. It isn't often you see someone who appears to be an intellectual in a role that didn't necessarily call for that type. She is lovely, dignified, but hardly the standard "babe who attracts three best friends." They seem to like her for her complexity. And that in itself is unusual.This movie was strange. It should have been better than it was -- the emphasis on the love story slows things up and even feel a bit silly. (When Pat starts wearing traditional German garb in the kitchen just cracked me up.) But the good moments, when they come, making viewing this film worthwhile.

Robert Taylor, Franchot Tone, and Robert Young are "Three Comrades" in this 1938 film directed by Frank Borzage and starring Margaret Sullivan as the young woman who enters their lives.The setting is Germany after World War I, and the three friends return from battle and open a mechanic's shop. When they meet the ethereal Pat (Sullivan), they all embrace her as a friend, but it's she and Erich (Taylor) who fall in love. Only Otto (Tone) knows that she has tuberculosis; he encourages her to marry Erich and be happy. On their honeymoon, she collapses, and Erich learns the truth.This film represents F. Scott Fitzgerald's only writing credit in Hollywood, though he worked on other films, including "Marie Antoinette," "Red Headed Woman," "The Women," and others, uncredited in all. In "Tender Comrades" you can often hear his gentle prose.The original script was much more political, but MGM, careful of its foreign market, excised all of that out. There is unrest in Germany post-World War I, but it's vague unrest; Gottfried (Young) has involvement in a political group that's against the current government, but we don't get too much info about it.I don't know if it's because the film is set in Germany, a fairly depressing place until the '50s, or because we know that, though the Germans have been through a lot, they ain't seen nothing' yet, or Pat's discreet coughs, but this movie is depressing even when the characters are having a good time. It's almost as if they all play their roles as if they know the ending. I'm not giving spoilers here - it's obvious from the beginning of the film what's going to happen. No surprises.Despite this sense of foreboding, the film is very well done, if a bit slow by today's standards. Robert Taylor had better roles and developed into a better actor post-war, though he is a revelation in the film "Escape," but he is so handsome and sweet in this film. It's no wonder my mother was mad for him. Tone has the burden of some heavy monologues -- some of the dialogue is tough going -- but he is good nonetheless, as is Robert Young.Margaret Sullivan was a wonderful screen presence, pretty, with a low voice, and as a stage-trained actress, she was always excellent. Pat is really the only character that has any business being depressed throughout the film, and she comes off as a mystery woman at the beginning. It's obvious she has a secret and has seen bad times. She plays the role as if she's not really of this earth, and she's wonderful.Recommended, but don't see it if you haven't taken your antidepressants.

In the early sound era, one of the most respected directors in Hollywood was Frank Borzage: in fact, he won the very first Academy Award for Best Director (and would win a second one five years later). Yet his work is now virtually unknown. THREE COMRADES came during his tenure at MGM, where he would stay for the next five years (previously, he had been one of the star directors at Fox, and then worked at Columbia and Warner Brothers); it reunited him with Margaret Sullavan, with whom he had worked on LITTLE MAN WHAT NOW in 1934, and it would represent the only official screen credit for F. Scott Fitzgerald. There are moments (especially in the romance between the poor aristocrat Patricia and the young mechanic Erik) in which you can hear the lilt and romanticism of Fitzgerald's sensibility. THREE COMRADES was one of those movies that played a lot of television in late 1950s-early 1960s, and the moving story of three comrades (played by Robert Taylor, Robert Young and Franchot Tone) and the young woman who enters their lives (played by the great Sullavan, in her Academy Award-nominated performance) trying to find some solace and happiness in the rubble of Germany in the period immediately following the first World War is remarkably touching. Though often criticized for the (many) compromises that went into the making (this was a major studio production in 1938, beset with all the production code and commercial considerations of the era), there's still enough of Remarque's powerful story, Fitzgerald's elegant dialog, and Borzage's romanticism (as well as the superb performance by Margaret Sullavan) to make this one of the most memorable American movies of the 1930s.