The idea was clearly to take two of the stars of The Third Man, reunite them with its author, substitute Venice for Vienna, and come up with a similar film. There is also some duplication of the theme of another Graham Greene-Carol Reed collaboration, The Fallen Idol, that of a small child caught up in a bewildering adult world. The ploys don't work (but) what did emerge is a pleasingly offbeat little film, more touching than thrilling, disturbing and satisfying at the same time. One key reason for its misfire qualities may be the inadequacies of the child player, Richard O'Sullivan, (although) admittedly he is meant to be an unhappy and insecure child... More than compensating for him, however, is the beautifully modulated performance by Eduardo Cianelli as the nominal villain. It's as though Cianelli, the master spy of Foreign Correspondent, is here living out his days and dwindling usefulness in work that has become routine, shoddy, and no longer even has the saving grace of patriotism. It's a superb performance, and gives the film unexpected depth and poignancy. For the rest, the Venice backgrounds are a constant fascination, and the small cast is uniformly good. William K. Everson