The plot’s central conceit, that theater is the house of true art and film the way station of the illiterate, might’ve come off as self-important on stage, and maybe a bit hypocritical given the reliance on sight gags and apropos of nothing references. But Hawks’s freewheeling adaptation, with an emphasis on “speedy delivery” line readings, loose, free-wheeling blocking [and[ ripened-on-the-vine overacting, casually reverses and undermines the frumpy thesis by validating the effortlessly supple benefits of the seventh art.
— Eric Henderson (Slant Magazine)
Synopsis: A temperamental Broadway producer trains an untutored actress, but when she becomes a star, she proves a match for him.