The Landlord

This article is about the 1970 film. For other uses, seeLandlord (disambiguation).

"The Landlord (film)" redirects here. For the 2007 short film starring Will Ferrell, seeThe Landlord (2007 film).For the 1940 German film directed by Heinz Helbig, seeDer Herr im Haus.

The Landlord
promotional poster
Directed by	Hal Ashby
Screenplay by	Bill Gunn
Based on	The Landlord 1966 novel byKristin Hunter
Produced by	Norman Jewison
Starring	Beau Bridges Lee Grant Diana Sands Pearl Bailey
Cinematography	Gordon Willis
Edited by	William A. Sawyer Edward Warschilka
Music by	Al Kooper
Production companies	Mirisch Company Cartier Productions
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	May 20, 1970(1970-05-20)
Running time	113 minutes
Language	English
Budget	$1.95 million

The Landlordis a 1970 Americancomedy-drama filmdirected byHal Ashby,adapted byBill Gunnfrom the 1966 novel byKristin Hunter.The film starsBeau Bridgesin the lead role of a privileged and ignorant white man who selfishly becomes landlord of an inner-city tenement, unaware that the people he is responsible for are low-income, streetwise residents. Also in the cast areLee Grant,Diana Sands,Pearl Bailey,andLouis Gossett Jr.The film was Ashby'sdirectorial debut.

Plot

Elgar Enders, who lives off an allowance from his wealthy parents, buys an inner-city tenement inPark Slope, Brooklyn,which is undergoinggentrification,planning to evict the occupants and construct a luxury home for himself. However, once he ventures into the tenement, he grows fond of the low-income black residents. Enders decides to remain the landlord and help fix the building. He rebels against hisWASPupbringing and, to his parents' dismay, romances two black women.

The first is Lanie, a mixed-race dancer at a local black club. Lanie has light skin and features due to her having a mother of Irish descent and a father of African descent, and has experiencedcolorism.Their relationship is strained, as Elgar has an affair with one of his tenants, Fanny, and gets her pregnant. Her boyfriend, Copee, a black activist with an identity crisis, is enraged when he finds out about the pregnancy, and tries to kill Elgar with an axe but stops. He is taken away in astraitjacket.

In recovery at the hospital, Fanny tells Elgar she can't raise the child herself with Copee returning home. Elgar balks at being a single father, so Fanny suggests they give the child up for adoption, but only to a white family to start a new life. The story ends with Elgar taking custody of the child, mending his relationship with Lanie, and moving in with her.

Cast

Actor	Role
Beau Bridges	Elgar Winthrop Julius Enders
Lee Grant	Joyce Enders
Diana Sands	Francine "Fanny" Johnson
Pearl Bailey	Marge
Walter Brooke	William Enders
Louis Gossett Jr.	Copee Johnson (as Lou Gossett)
Marki Bey	Lanie
Melvin Stewart	Professor Duboise
Susan Anspach	Susan Enders
Robert Klein	Peter Coots
Will Mackenzie	William Enders Jr.

Charlie Murphy,older brother ofEddie Murphy,lived in the neighborhood where the film was shot, and he appears in a brief scene as a boy stealing Elgar's hubcaps.

Reception

The film was a commercial disappointment.Arthur Krimof United Artists later did an assessment of the film as part of an evaluation of the company's inventory:

What was expected to be provocative material to the new modern film audience of 1968-1969 in depicting black and white relationships in an urban setting, emerged as a film which we felt would be of limited interest to the audience of 1970 - an audience more and more sated with films of this genre. This is still a type of film we intend to continue to make but at one-quarter the cost. Unfortunately, at the time this film was programmed, unrealistic optimism about the potential audience for this type of film prevailed.

Critical reaction

The film garnered mostly positive reviews from critics. OnRotten Tomatoes,it has received a 93% overall approval rating from 14 critics.Upon its release,New York Timesfilm criticHoward Thompson,called the film "a wondrously wise, sad and hilarious comedy."On September 19, 2007, journalist Mike Hale discussed the film in aNew York Timesarticle called "Before Gentrification Was Cool, It Was a Movie". Hale praised the film for tackling the racial tension that arose in the aftermath of theassassination of Martin Luther King Jr.and wrote in surprise how the film "would disappear after its 1970 release – rarely shown and just as rarely discussed."

Awards and nominations

Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
Academy Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Lee Grant	Nominated
British Academy Film Awards	United Nations Award	Hal Ashby	Nominated
Golden Globe Awards	Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture	Lee Grant	Nominated
Laurel Awards	Top Female Supporting Performance		4th Place
	Top Female Star of Tomorrow	Diana Sands	6th Place

Further reading

• Sieving, Christopher J.Soul Searching: Black-Themed Cinema from the March on Washington to the Rise of Blaxploitation,Wesleyan University Press (2011). 280pp.https:// amazon /Soul-Searching-Black-Themed-Washington-Blaxploitation/dp/0819571334

External links

• The Landlordat theAFI Catalog of Feature Films
• The LandlordatIMDb
• The LandlordatAllMovie
• The Landlordat theTCM Movie Database
• The LandlordatRotten Tomatoes