[3] He became an ensign in the United States Navy Reserve on October 13, 1942, and reported aboard the Landing Ship, Tank 679 on July 15, 1944.

[7] Canby was an enthusiastic supporter of filmmakers Stanley Kubrick, Spike Lee, Jane Campion, Mike Leigh, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, James Ivory and Woody Allen, who credited Canby's rave review of Take the Money and Run as a crucial point in his career.

[8] On the other hand, Canby was also highly critical of some otherwise acclaimed films, such as Rocky, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Night of the Living Dead, After Hours, Blazing Saddles, A Christmas Story, Witness, Mask, The Natural, Rain Man, The Exorcist, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,[9] Deliverance, The Godfather Part II, Alien and The Thing.

Among the best-known texts written by Canby was an extremely negative review of the movie Heaven's Gate by Michael Cimino.

[12][11] Almost three years later, upon the death of Bob Hope, Canby's byline appeared on the front page of The New York Times.