[11][12] Everyones said "The latest action has dealt a further blow to the confidence of local producers, who are emphatic that the gamut of censorial deliberations their pictures have to run is severe to a point of injustice.

"[16] A more detailed review stated it was unlikely to repeat the success of the silent versions: As a production it is a retrogres-sive step in Australian effort.

The old story of John Lee... has been amplified with a smuggling plot and much confusing mystery that leads nowhere and only serves to slow down the action.

In dress and settings an effort has been made to preserve the English atmosphere; and if these results look amateurish they are highly professional by comparison with the acting and dialogue...

The story... doubtless contains good dramatic material, but Invicta Films, an Australian company, have so disguised it that it appears sillier than the creations of the hack scenario writer's fancy.

The complicated story has been unwound in a rambling, disjointed fashion, and the dialogue is so childishly stiff and melodramatic that even the most docile audience is fidgeting and giggling before the end.

The cast is full of those stage types that went out with the appearance of Pinero – the red-eyed village maiden, who murmurs "Justice will prevail", the moustached French villain, who cannot speak without leering, smirking and kissing his finger-tips, and the stalwart British policeman, who arrests the wrong man with the noble words, "Duty is duty."

The spirit of the piece seems to have possessed the cast completely, but perhaps the stiffness of the acting is due to their ignorance of the difference between stage and screen technique.

"[19] The Sydney Sun said "It would be too hard to say that the cast is not capable, because the dialogue is so stilted that a brilliant and most experienced group of players could make but little of It.

[22][23][24] However, by the end of 1934 a trade paper reported it as having earned only £2,200 at the Australian box office with the possibility of this going up to £3,000 ("although it's doubtful"[2]) and the sale to England giving it a chance to recoup the budget.