Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film critic who became the chief film critic for The New York Times in 1969 and reviewed more than 1000 films during his tenure there.
[on the rats in Willard (1971)] They are no more scary than fat, friendly hamsters, except for one or two shots when they are seen by the hundreds - and hundreds of anything might be a scary sight, even hundreds of bishops.
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Fact
1
Canby is mentioned several times in the documentary Final Cut: The Making and Unmaking of Heaven's Gate (2004). His notorious New York Times review of Heaven's Gate (1980) in its original form is singled out as the most damning of its many negative reviews; producer David Field criticizes the decision to withdraw the film and re-edit it as "it was an admission that everybody thought Canby was right". Canby's equally negative review of the shortened movie is quoted later ("like a fat man who's been on a crash diet, thinner but not appreciably different").
2
Canby never married but was, for many years, the companion of Penelope Gilliatt.
3
Exposed the practice of advertising agencies, via the New York Times, for using misleadingly edited versions of film reviews to promote certain titles.
4
Chief film critic for the New York Times beginning in 1969.
$500,000
