That Bardem choose the american actress Betsy Blair to play Isabel and that the callous coterie is somewhat reminiscent of the young idlers in I vitelloni obviously invite comparison with Marty and Fellini’s film. Bardem, too, has been criticized for being influenced by other director’s work. His approach has been called “cold” and his style said to be “mannered”. With all this I do not agree.

I find the handling of his characters full of warm understanding, far more sensitive and true and normal than in most of Fellini. Betsy Blair’s Isabel is a beautifully observed character in the round. She plays it with a radiance and a depth of feeling that come only from real artistry.

The so-called “mannerisms” are far less conspicuous than in Muerte de un ciclista. Bardem is especially interested in the time- and-place continuity transitions of his script. At moment he achieves brilliant success with a daring few directors or editors would risk or even think of. This is not a “mannerism” to be denigrated but an originality of style that reminds me of Kubrick’s equally original and brilliant continuity in that excellent thriller last year, The Killing, a picture that Bardem is unlikely to have seen before he made Calle Mayor.

Paul Rotha, Films and Filming, November 1957