[4] The film caused controversy with U.S. censors of the time, who trimmed scenes for what was considered graphic amoral and sexual content.

He lives a life of womanising and heavy drinking and constantly runs up large debts, which his family has to pay.

Driving while drunk and taking risks, he crashes and causes the death of his father, Colonel Kenway (Godfrey Tearle).

The plot diverges from the theme of the Rake's Progress paintings by having him redeem himself by a hero's death in World War II.

It plays like a comedy-romance, but all the way through it keeps switching with brutal abruptness to the sharpest irony...As a consequence, a curious unevenness of emphasis and mood prevails, and initial sympathy with the hero is frequently and painfully upset";[7] while more recently, TV Guide wrote, "the film is filled with wit and style.