Critical reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Despite all the obvious effort and time that has been put into the production, it remains a protracted, and terribly dull, attempt at the 'serious' treatment of a literary subject – the kind of film in which one has to admire much of the acting simply because it is all there is to admire. ... Frankenheimer used a Hungarian crew to make The Fixer. It is just a pity that one of the first really ambitious attempts at East-West co-operation should turn out so limp." [3]
Variety wrote: "The John Frankenheimer-Edward Lewis film adaptation of Bernard Malamud's The Fixer will need all of the prestige the novel acquired as the 1967 Pulitzer Prize winner to boost its box-office fortunes. Even so, it is doubtful that it will appeal to more than a limited audience, for the crushing violence and brutality is unrelieved in this drama of intolerance, which unfortunately comes off more as a preachment. ... Frankenheimer's direction attempts the gloomy mood of the overall subject and Marcel Grignon's color photography is outstanding, Bela Zeichan's art direction is interesting, particularly in the palace sequence, although this seems incongruous. Maurice Jarre's music score provides a fitful backing of the action." [4]
The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "This lumbering epic stars Alan Bates as a Jewish opportunist in tsarist Russia who claims to be a Gentile and insinuates his way into the management of a brick factory. There's a rape charge, imprisonment, humiliation and constant fear of exposure and a new wave of pogroms. Based on Bernard Malamud's novel, screenwriter Dalton Trumbo and director John Frankenheimer take on some mighty themes and turn them into a scaled-down Doctor Zhivago, complete with a tacky Maurice Jarre score. Tedious and turgid." [5]
Leslie Halliwell wrote "Worthy but extremely dreary realist melodrama." [6]
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