Perhaps it also vindicated Astaire's own horror of "inventing up to the arty"—his phrase for the approach of those who would set out to create art, whereas he believed artistic value could only emerge as an accidental and unpremeditated by-product of a tireless search for perfection. In his autobiography, Astaire approvingly quotes "Los Angeles Times" critic Edwin Schallert: "'Not for realists' is a label that may be appropriately affixed to "Yolanda and the Thief." It is a question, too, whether this picture has the basic material to satisfy the general audience, although in texture and trimmings it might be termed an event." Astaire himself concluded, "This verified my feeling that doing fantasy on the screen is an extra risk."