When the film appeared, Bosley Crowther, writing in "The New York Times", called it "a neat piece of comic contrivance that will contribute to the joy of man" with "intelligence, compassion, and lots of gags." Holliday is "brilliantly droll," and the script "a compound of clever situation and broad but authentic character, wrapped up in free splurged emotions and witty, idiomatic dialogue." He said the role in which Jack Lemmon was cast, referring to him as the "new young man", was "played superbly".