Critical reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "It has the elements of a good story and is made with all the uncompromising realism and meticulous attention to detail of which British studios are justly proud. Yet with all these virtues it somehow falls flat, because it lacks the imaginative direction which would penetrate through the drab surface to the human or social significance underneath. A theme of lower middle-class life, with neither the glamour of luxury nor the dramatic grimness of low life, needs, more than any other, inspired treatment, imaginative characterisation, and probably just a touch of affectionate satire. They Knew My. Knight presents an admirably correct picture of very ordinary people, but nothing more; and as a result it is moving but just a little dull. Nevertheless it is quite a good film, well acted by Mervyn Johns as Blake, Nora Swinburne as Mrs. Blake, and Alfred Drayton as the crook-financier. It contains some good scenes, such as the inevitable Sunday walk through dreary suburbs to visit Blake's disgruntled old mother, and, on the whole, it is worth a good many slicker but less honest productions." [4]
Kine Weekly wrote: "Elaborately mounted, but rather laboured domestic-cum-financial melodrama, illustrates the text 'For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?' ... First-class performances are given by Alfred Drayton as the unprincipled sharepusher, and Nora Swinburne, as the victim's loyal and tender wife, and a number of bright and poignant domestic touches, but fhe salient features are too obvious and the financial details of the undertaking too vague to impart conviction, let alone deliver a message. Its main hope is its feminine appeal." [5]
Picturegoer wrote: "Mervyn Johns does his best to make the role of an unassuming married man who is made and broken by a crooked pioneer convincing, but he does not wholly succeed. The story has its moments of pathos, but it always smacks strongly of the theatre." [6]
Picture Show wrote: "Sincere, but a little dull and depressing." [7]
Variety wrote: "Mervyn Johns, Alfred Drayton, Nora Swinburne, Joyce Howard and Joan Greenwood all have a certain amount of pull with British audiences, but their best friends will steer clear of watching them struggle through this impossible story. Dorothy Whipple's novel of the same title may be enjoyable reading, but the screen adaptation makes it doubtful. To blame either Norman Walker, director, or the cast would be unfair. The scenario offers little either for cast or director." [8]
The Radio Times gave the film two out of five stars, and wrote, "director Norman Walker rather wallows in this glum middle-class morality tale. But he prudently cashes in on Johns's fretful features and the solid support provided by Nora Swinburne and Joan Greenwood, as his wife and self-sacrificing daughter." [9]
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