Reception
While rich with the sharp dialogue that became Sturges' trademark, the film was not a box office success. Critics usually attribute this to the darkness of the subject matter, especially for a comedy. The idea of a bungling murderer did not sit well with 1948 audiences, and the fact that none of the characters are especially sympathetic certainly did not help.
In 2008, director Quentin Tarantino placed the film at number 8 in his top 11 movies of all time.
Sturges, whose previous film, The Sin of Harold Diddlebock had been pulled from distribution shortly after being released, never fully recovered from the lukewarm reception given to Unfaithfully Yours, and many point to it as the movie which effectively ended his career. Despite this, it is considered today by many critics to be an outstanding film, as evidenced by a recent DVD release through the Criterion Collection.
Read more about this topic: Unfaithfully Yours (1948 Film)
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
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—Lewis H. Lapham (b. 1935)
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—Gerald R. Ford (b. 1913)