While "Untamed" was a box-office success and continued Joan Crawford's rise as a fan favorite, the critical reviews were mixed. The "New York Times" critic Mordaunt Hall wrote, "...this pictorial effusion never really appears to get outside the wall of a Hollywood studio .It does wander, however, from anything real, and the trite dialogue and vacillating natures of some of the persons involved make one shudder to think to what queer lengths producers can go with their relatively new vocalized toy." He commented on the vocal talents of Crawford—her first talkie—by saying, "Miss Crawford has a good voice, but she never strikes one as a girl who has been away from civilization for most of her life. There are moments when the fault is with Miss Crawford, and then there are instances where one is impelled to sympathize with her because of her lines."