“Surrender is based on a stage play about World War I, and it suffers from some static scenes and bombastic dialogue, but whenever it breaks away from the set pieces, it has some very interesting sequences. Howard's reputation has been based chiefly on his leaning toward the naturalistic cinema, because his most well-known film, White Gold, belongs to that category, and yet even in that film he builds his effects on the establishment of mood and atmosphere. The camerawork of James Wong Howe makes a major contribution to similar effects in Surrender. There are as well some well constructed action sequences in the film, and the fine performances from the minor characters should also be noted.
“One can especially admire the night sequence, early in the film, when the prisoners of war are sent out to bury the dead, and they make an escape attempt: the unusual lighting from behind and below the ridge on which they walk, the misty effects, the swinging lanterns, the light striking the bottom of a coffin, make for an evocative atmosphere.” Eileen Bowser, Museum of Modern Art