"A focal point in any study of Leisen. Brackett and Wilder's last script for him draws on the actual experience of European refugees waiting in Mexico for their immigration visas (in 1941), and also employs an ironic narrative trope. The story of how a suave gigolo (Charles Boyer) lures a small-town American school teacher (Olivia de Havilland) into marriage is told to Paramount director ‘John Saxon,' played by Leisen, seen during the filming of I Wanted Wings. Boyer and de Havilland embody a definitive trans-Atlantic ambivalence." --National Film Theatre, London.
"This theme, in 1941 at any rate, had a considerable punch. The problem of emigration to America was a serious one, for thousands of Europeans were stranded in Mexico waiting for visas and their plight was serious. The uneasy problem of dubious taste on the part of Wilder and Brackett in kidding this problem is amply demonstrated in the first part of the film. This section is undoubtedly the best, and as soon as the film gets serious...only Leisen's superbly tasteful direction holds the film on its steady course...." --David Stewart Hull