The Landlord is a 1970 American comedy-drama film directed by Hal Ashby, adapted by Bill Gunn from the 1966 novel by Kristin Hunter. The film stars Beau Bridges in the lead role of a privileged and ignorant white man who selfishly becomes the landlord of an inner-city tenement, intending to evict the occupants, unaware that the people he is responsible for are low-income, streetwise residents. Also in the cast are Lee Grant, Diana Sands, Pearl Bailey, and Louis Gossett Jr. The film was Ashby's directorial debut. Plot: Naïve 29-year-old Elgar Enders buys a building in a black Brooklyn ghetto to evict the tenants and upgrade it. But instead, he grows fond of the tenants, especially a black woman married to a black radical, and falls in love with a mixed-race girl while his wealthy parents disapprove. Storyline: Elgar Enders, who lives off an allowance from his wealthy parents, buys an inner-city tenement in Park Slope, Brooklyn, which is undergoing gentrification, planning to evict the occupants and construct a luxury home for himself. (A one-man urban renewal project). 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 his WASP upbringing and, to his parents' dismay, romances a black woman and a biracial woman. Trivia: Charlie Murphy, older brother of Eddie Murphy, lived in the neighborhood where the film was shot, and he appears in a brief scene as a boy stealing Elgar's hubcaps. Historical Context: In the early seventies, Hollywood studio executives began to realize there was a huge untapped market for films dealing with Afro-Americans - a situation made obvious by the unexpected success of Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970), an action-comedy film. In the ensuing rush to capture this previously ignored audience, the "blaxploitation" film was born, but the majority of these films were urban crime thrillers like Shaft (1971) and Superfly (1972). Films which attempted to explore racial issues or feature complicated black and white relationships were a rarity, but one unique exception was The Landlord (1970), which was virtually ignored by the public when it opened. Critical Reaction: The film garnered mostly positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has received a 93% overall approval rating from 14 critics. Upon its release, New York Times film critic Howard Thompson, called the film "a wondrously wise, sad and hilarious comedy." On September 19, 2007, journalist Mike Hale discussed the film in a New York Times article called "Before Gentrification Was Cool, It Was a Movie". Hale praised the film for tackling the racial tension that arose in the aftermath of the assassination 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." We do not own the rights to any of this film. This film is being used for historical and educational purposes only. No copyright infringement intended. Black Excellence:
Starring Beau Bridges, Lee Grant, Diana Sands
Dir. Hal Ashby
