 Moffitt took issue with the underlying ideology of the film, however, especially its implication, as he saw it, that professional bureaucrats could better guide youth than the American family unit itself.He criticized the film for overgeneralizing, calling this aspect a "convenient cliche", and summed up his review by describing the film as "a superficial treatment of a vital problem that has been staged brilliantly".Robert J. Landry, managing editor of "Variety" magazine at the time, wrote a review published on October 26.