Became rather notorious for being one of a handful of critics (John
Simon was another) who wrote a negative review of the 1967 film classic
"Bonnie and Clyde", an act which singlehandedly almost caused the film
to fail at the box office. Crowther was at that time film critic for
the New York Times. He had previously written a highly critical
assessment of Laurence Olivier's acclaimed performance in his 1965 film
version of Shakespeare's "Othello", because Olivier played the role in
blackface - this despite the fact that Olivier was eventually
Oscar-nominated for his performance.