The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The basic mistake of this adaptation seems to lie in the script, which is so overwhelmed by the narrative itself that the characters and relationships fail mostly to crystallise. Even so, some painstaking condensation still obliges the film to end two-thirds of the way through the novel (in which Aissa finally kills Willems). One can see how Reed was approaching the subject – an anti-romantic view of the East, not beautiful, not exotic, but a squalid wasteland in which only Lingard and some of the poverty-stricken natives preserve any human dignity. One has a suspicion that the film has been overshot, and in being cut down to 100 minutes has been reduced more and more to the bare outlines of the story."
Variety wrote: "Reed has not succeeded in extracting the suspense normally associated with his work. Film is somewhat overlong and shows signs of substantial scissoring in an endeavor to keep it within reasonable bounds.
John Wilcox has lensed the production skillfully while
Brian Easdale has contributed a satisfying musical score."
Picturegoer wrote: "Few directors can, in the first quarter of an hour of a film, achieve a really convincing atmosphere and also give an incisive introduction to the characters of the story. Fewer again, I would imagine, could pull it off where one of Joseph Conrad's novels is being brought to the screen, for the author is an expert at atmosphere building chapter by chapter. But with this film, Carol Reed proves he is one of the select few. In fact, his handling of this Conrad work confirms his position as one of our best directors. And he doesn't forget to give us flashes of his somewhat impish humour that can always be associated with his work."
Picture Show wrote: "Superbly beautiful Eastern settings back an enthralling story, intelligently acted, and skilfully directed. Trevor Howard is outstanding in a new field – villainy – for he takes the role of a degenerate white man who betrays all the laws of decency and loyalty to satisfy his own desires, when he falls violently in love with the daughter of a native chief. The repercussions of his arrival at the Jondlys trading post where this happens are violent and exciting, and the retribution is unusually satisfying. Sir Ralph Richardson is excellent as the kindly, loyal trading schooner captain, and these two head a splendidly-chosen cast. Don't miss this." Film critic, Pauline Kael, said of the film that the story takes place in Hong Kong but could just as easily have been told in Southern California, meaning that the location shots were used to make the familiar seem unusual. ==Accolades==