The reviews are uniformly warm, from the film’s release to the present day, with no dissent to speak of. Most critics find it a sparkling, spontaneous comedy that turns the wartime Washington housing shortage into farce, and the praise clusters on the cast. Charles Coburn’s elderly matchmaker is repeatedly singled out as the film’s engine, and Jean Arthur’s rapid-fire delivery draws steady admiration. George Stevens’s off-hand, intimate direction is credited with giving the players room to be charming.
The spread is narrow. Where critics part is on what the film is really about. Film Comment treats the romance between Arthur and Joel McCrea as the point, finding the tender scenes its strongest, while the older notices regard the leads as capable rather than central. Reservations are mild: Time Out notes a drift towards sentimentality, and The New Yorker finds the comedy falls apart towards the end. Nobody rates it less than good.
