On the 80th anniversary of John Lennon’s birth, we republish this article, originally written for the 75th anniversary

On 6 October 1960, the film Spartacus opened in New York City’s DeMille Theatre. TIME magazine celebrated “a new kind of Hollywood movie: a super-spectacle with spiritual vitality and moral force”. The New York Times‘ long-time film critic Bosley Crowther was less excited, dismissing the film as “heroic humbug”, adding that “the middle phase is […]