The film "found success in Europe, where Perkins won an award for his performance at the Cannes Film Festival, but in America critics and audiences were generally unenthusiastic." According to Bosley Crowther, "Taylor's derivative screen play has a few flights of fancy and wit, but on the whole it is solemn and pedestrian"; "Perkins not only has the most engaging role but he also plays it in the most engaging fashion and almost carries the picture by himself." Years later, Andrea Foshee, writing for Turner Classic Movies, agreed: