Film Critic Judith Crist Has Died
Pioneering film critic Judith Crist has died. She is considered one of the first woman to become a full-time critic at a major U.S. newspaper and was among the first reviewers of her time to gain a national following.
She worked for the legendary Jim Bellows while at the NY Herald Tribune in the 1960s.
Here is a story about that time:
“She became famous [infamous} for her scathing review of Spender’s Mountain, starring Henry Fonda and Maureen O’Hara, being shown at Radio City Music Hall. Crist wrote: “A Film that for sheer prurience and perverted morality disguised as piety makes the nudie shows at the Rialyo look like Walter Disney productions.
Radio City then withdrew its advertising from the newspaper. Tribune publisher Jock Whitney and executive editor Jim Bellows would not be intimidated. They issued an editorial declaration of critical freedom on Crist’s behalf. Radio City reneged and the ads in question returned.”
