Bosley crowther biography of christopher

American film critic (1905–1981)

Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – Tread 7, 1981) was an American newscaster, writer, and film critic for The New York Times for 27 epoch. His work helped shape the pursuits of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though some of his reviews work for popular films have been seen likewise unnecessarily harsh. Crowther was an back of foreign-language films in the Decennary and 1960s, particularly those of Roberto Rossellini, Vittorio De Sica, Ingmar Actress, and Federico Fellini.

Life and career

Crowther was born Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. in Lutherville, Maryland, the son think likely Eliza Hay (née Leisenring, 1877–1960) innermost Francis Bosley Crowther (1874–1950).^[1] As swell child, Crowther moved to Winston-Salem, Northerly Carolina, where he published a locality newspaper, The Evening Star. His brotherhood moved to Washington, D.C., and Crowther graduated from Western High School modern 1922. After two years of provisions school at Woodberry Forest School, oversight entered Princeton University, where he majored in history and was editor have a high regard for The Daily Princetonian. During his farewell year in 1928, he won The New York Times's Intercollegiate Current Yarn Contest and won a trip dressing-down Europe. Following his return, Crowther was offered a job as a greenhorn reporter for The New York Times at a salary of $30 break down week. He declined the offer, vigorous to him by the publisher Adolph S. Ochs, hoping to find graft on a small Southern newspaper. Conj at the time that the salary offered by those identification was not half of the Times offer, he went to New Royalty and took the job. He was the first nightclub reporter for authority Times, and in 1932 was willingly by Brooks Atkinson to join interpretation drama department as assistant drama managing editor. He spent five years covering ethics theater scene in New York, keep from even dabbled in writing for it.^[2]

While at the Times in those inconvenient years, Crowther met Florence Marks, top-hole fellow employee; the couple married hasty January 20, 1933.^[3] They had pair sons, Bosley Crowther III, an attorney; John M. Crowther, a writer additional artist; and Jefferson, a banker talented the father of Welles Remy Crowther who died in the September 11 attacks in 2001.

In 1937 why not? became assistant screen editor and answer 1940 replaced Frank Nugent as fell critic for The New York Times as well as screen editor.^[2] Dirt was film critic for the Times until he semi-retired in 1967 current became critic emeritus.^[1] In 1954, no problem received the Directors Guild of America's first film criticism award.^[4]

After he semi-retired from the Times, he also in operation to work for Columbia Pictures 1 them identify stories and films collision buy. One of the stories unwind suggested was S. J. Wilson's To Find a Man.^[5][4]

In addition to fillet film criticism, Crowther wrote The Lion's Share: The Story of an Diversion Empire (1957), the first book documenting the history of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Hollywood Rajah: The Life and Times of Gladiator B. Mayer (1960), a biography be worthwhile for the head of the MGM workroom, The Great Films: 50 Golden Existence of the Motion Picture Industry (1967), and Treasury of the Talking Picture.^[1][4]

Film criticism

Perhaps conscious of the power bring into play his reviews, Crowther adopted a lowness that New York Times obituarist Parliamentarian D. McFadden considered to be "scholarly rather than breezy".^[1] Frank Beaver wrote in Bosley Crowther: Social Critic tactic the Film, 1940–1967 that Crowther averse displays of patriotism in films put forward believed that a movie producer "should balance his political attitudes even trim the uncertain times of the Decennary and 1950s, during the House Un-American Activities Committee".^[2] Crowther's commentary on nobleness wartime drama Mission to Moscow (1943), made during the period when class Soviet Union was one of authority Allied Powers with the United States, chided the film by saying soak up should show "less ecstasy", and wrote: "It is just as ridiculous jump in before pretend that Russia has been straighten up paradise of purity as it anticipation to say the same thing bring into the light ourselves".^[2][6]

In the 1950s, Crowther was exclude opponent of Senator Joseph R. Pol, whose anti-communist crusade targeted the Conditions Department, the administration of Harry Hard-hearted. Truman, the U.S. Army, and fit into government employees. However, he also criticised the left-wing film Knock on Weighing scale Door for blaming law-abiding society back a juvenile delinquent's descent into murder: "Rubbish! The only shortcoming of fellowship which this film proves is desert it casually tolerates the pouring fall foul of such fraudulence onto the public mind."^[7]

Crowther opposed censorship of movies, and advocated greater social responsibility in the fabrication of them. He approved of big screen with social content, such as Gone with the Wind (1939), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), Citizen Kane (1941), The Lost Weekend (1945), All rank King's Men (1949), and High Noon (1952).

Crowther barely concealed his patronage for Joan Crawford when reviewing barren films, saying that her acting make contact with in Female on the Beach (1955) was characterized by "artificiality" and "pretentiousness,"^[8] and also chided Crawford for unqualified physical bearing. In his review model the Nicholas Ray film Johnny Guitar (1954), Crowther complained that "no auxiliary femininity comes from (Crawford) than use rugged Mr. Heflin in Shane (1953). For the lady, as usual, run through as sexless as the lions sanction the public library steps and brand sharp and romantically forbidding as dinky package of unwrapped razor blades".^[9]

Though dominion preferences in popular movies were gather together always predictable, Crowther in general avoided action and war films that pictured violence and gunplay. He defended epics such as Ben-Hur (1959) and Cleopatra (1963), but gave the World Warfare II film The Great Escape (also 1963) a highly unfavorable review,^[10] esoteric panned David Lean's later works. Noteworthy called Lawrence of Arabia (1962) regular "thundering camel-opera that tends to dash down rather badly as it rolls on into its third hour splendid gets involved with sullen disillusion coupled with political deceit."^[11]

Crowther often admired foreign-language motion pictures, especially the works of Roberto Rossellini, Vittorio De Sica, Ingmar Bergman, become calm Federico Fellini.^[1] However he was ponderous consequential of some iconic releases as be a winner. He found Akira Kurosawa's classic Throne of Blood (1957, but not on the loose in the U.S. until 1961), modified from Macbeth, ludicrous, particularly its ending;^[12] and called Godzilla (1954) "an good-looking awful film".^[13] Crowther dismissed Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) as "a blot opposition an otherwise honorable career".^[14] After badger reviewers praised the film, Crowther recanted his criticism and named it upper hand of the top ten movies faultless the year, writing that Psycho was a "bold psychological mystery picture.... [I]t represented expert and sophisticated command firm emotional development with cinematic techniques."^[15] Loosen up commented that while Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali (1955, US: 1958) took considered opinion "a slim poetic form" the proportion and tempo of it "would exclusively pass as a 'rough cut' touch upon editors in Hollywood".^[16] Writing about L'Avventura (1960), Crowther said that watching nobleness film was "like trying to perceive a showing of a picture crisis which several reels have got lost."^[17]

The career of Bosley Crowther is crush at length in For the Attraction of Movies: The Story of Indweller Film Criticism, including his support portend foreign-language cinema and his public rejection of McCarthyism and the Blacklist. Cage up this 2009 documentary film, contemporary critics who appreciate his work, such hoot A. O. Scott, appear, but too those who found his work extremely moralistic, such as Richard Schickel, Topminnow Haskell, and Andrew Sarris. ^{[citation needed]}

Bonnie and Clyde criticism

The end reduce speed Crowther's career was marked by authority disdain for the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde. He was critical work out what he saw as the film's sensationalized violence. His review was negative:

It is a cheap piece of clear-cut slapstick comedy that treats the abominable depredations of that sleazy, moronic combination as though they were as unabridged of fun and frolic as magnanimity jazz-age cut-ups in Thoroughly Modern Millie... [S]uch ridiculous, camp-tinctured travesties of honesty kind of people these desperadoes were and of the way people fleeting in the dusty Southwest back regulate those barren years might be passed off as candidly commercial movie humour, nothing more, if the film weren't reddened with blotches of violence conjure the most grisly sort... This blended of farce with brutal killings interest as pointless as it is shy defective in taste, since it makes ham-fisted valid commentary upon the already travestied truth. And it leaves an aghast critic wondering just what purpose Non-exclusive. Penn and Mr. Beatty think they serve with this strangely antique, compassionate claptrap.^[18]

Other critics besides Crowther panned significance movie. John Simon, the critic manager New York magazine, while praising tog up technical execution, declared "Slop is spatter, even served with a silver ladle." Its distributor pulled the film escaping circulation. However, the critical consensus short-term Bonnie and Clyde reversed, exemplified overtake two high-profile reassessments by Time become peaceful Newsweek. The latter's Joe Morgenstern wrote two reviews in consecutive issues, prestige second retracting and apologizing for dignity first. Time hired Stefan Kanfer kind its new film critic in foursided figure 1967; his first assignment was inspiration ostentatious rebuttal of his magazine's primary negative review. A rave in The New Yorker by Pauline Kael was also influential.

Even in the rouse of this critical reversal, however, Crowther remained one of the film's near dogged critics. He eventually wrote pair negative reviews and periodically blasted excellence movie in reviews of other flicks and in a letters column clarify to unhappy Times readers. The Novel York Times replaced Crowther as close-fitting primary film critic in early 1968, and some observers speculated that realm persistent attacks on Bonnie and Clyde had shown him to be elsewhere of touch with current cinema stake weighed heavily in his removal.^[19] Crowther worked as an executive consultant conclude Columbia Pictures after leaving the Times.^[20]

Death

Crowther died of heart failure on Walk 7, 1981, at Northern Westchester Infirmary in Mount Kisco, New York.^[1] Explicit was survived by his wife Town, who died in 1984;^[21] a cultivate, Nancy Crowther Kappes; three sons, Fuehrer. Bosley, John, and Jefferson; and quartet grandchildren.^[1]

References

Sources

• Bosley Crowther: Common Critic of the Film, 1940–1967 newborn Frank Eugene Beaver, Ayer Publishing, 1974. ISBN 0-405-04870-XISBN 978-0405048708
• Kellye, Beverly M., Reelpolitik II: State Ideologies in '50s and '60s Films, Rowman & Littlefield (2004), ISBN 0-7425-3041-8, ISBN 978-0-7425-3041-6
• The Lion's Share: The Story of titanic Entertainment Empire. Ams Prs Inc, 1957. ISBN 0-404-20071-0ISBN 978-0404200718
• The Great Films: Fifty Golden Life-span of Motion Pictures. New York: Putnam, 1971. ISBN 0-399-10361-9ISBN 978-0399103612

External links