The film became a notorious flop for the Rank Organisation. Bogarde called the film "a travesty of what it should have been" while Roy Baker said "I hated it, it broke my heart. It put me completely out of kilter for years afterwards, it was a disaster. I'm told it's a cult picture and quite probably in countries with large Catholic communities it has some special reference. I should never have made it." "That was one that went wrong," said John Mills.

The film failed at the box office, but has since developed a cult following due to