75
Metascore
7 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88Chicago TribuneMichael WilmingtonChicago TribuneMichael WilmingtonThat great ex-Berliner Wilder's cynical, darkly funny look at postwar Berlin--a hive of bombed-out buildings, desperate citizens and black-market morality, run by the U.S. military with a slightly blind eye. [02 Jun 2006, p.C4]
- 80The New York TimesBosley CrowtherThe New York TimesBosley CrowtherA dandy entertainment which has some shrewd and realistic things to say.
- 75Chicago ReaderDave KehrChicago ReaderDave KehrWilder's strategy is to play a bubbly romantic comedy in a mise-en-scene of destruction and despair. As usual, it's more clever than meaningful, but this 1948 film is one of his most satisfactory in wit and pace.
- 75TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineThis is Wilder at his most acerbic and cynical, and the film was originally attacked by critics who considered it a monument to tastelessness. But the hypnotic performance he draws from sultry Dietrich shows his continuing mastery of the medium.
- 70Time OutTime OutThis may not be Wilder at his best - the story develops along fairly predictable lines, with Arthur switching her starchy uniform for a glistening evening gown - but there are some precious set pieces, notably a seduction among a row of filing cabinets and Dietrich's club act, not to mention a crackling script.
- 60The New YorkerPauline KaelThe New YorkerPauline KaelOften seems on the verge of being funny, but the humor is too clumsily forced.