A young boy (Jimmy Sterman), the result of a union between a Danish sailor and a woman from the Virgin Islands (a former Danish crown colony) is brought to Denmark to live with paternal relatives in a pleasant country town. Of course, the mere presence of the boy forces the good citizens to reevaluate their hitherto hypocritical view of racism. Paw was based on a popular children's book from 1918, and the sight of a small black child in provincial Denmark was still a revelation in 1959. Times have changed; the small kingdom has since become a multi-cultural society with problems demanding (and sometimes receiving) far more serious solutions than director Astrid Henning-Jensen was able to provide.
~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide