Editing The Search (section)

==Reception==

In ''[[The Nation (magazine)| The Nation]]'' in 1948, critic [[James Agee]] wrote, "Awfully well intended and sometimes sweet or touching, but pathetically mild and unimaginative{{nbsp}}... "<ref>Agee, James - ''Agee on Film Vol.1'' © 1958 by The James Agee Trust</ref> [[Leonard Maltin]] gave the film four of four stars: "Poignant drama{{nbsp}}... Beautifully acted and directed{{nbsp}}... "<ref>Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide - Third Edition 2015 {{ISBN|978-0-14-751682-4}}</ref> British critic [[Leslie Halliwell]] stated, "Vivid semi-documentary post-war drama which falls down in its elementary dramatics but sends audiences home wiping away tears."<ref>Halliwell's Film Guide, 7th Edition 1987 ISBN 0-06-016322-4</ref> Critic [[Pauline Kael]] wrote, "{{nbsp}}... Clift gives the movie{{nbsp}}... a shot of excitement. His gestures and vocal rhythms and his emotional rapport with the child are different from the acting that moviegoers had been familiar with; he's sensitive and engaging in a new stylized, yet realistic, way{{nbsp}}... The emotion got to many viewers, even  though the manipulated suspense and the sentimental softening prevent the film from doing anything like justice to its subject."<ref>Kael, Pauline - ''5001 Nights at the Movies'' 1991 ISBN 0-8050-1366-0</ref>