Landlord, The (1970)

Elgar Winthrop Julius Enders (Beau Bridges) – a 29-year-old gentleman of leisure living on his wealthy family’s estate just outside New York City – buys a run-down apartment block in an ethnic part of New York, intending to demolish it and redevelop the site. But news of the tenants’ predicaments causes him to have a change of heart.

Former editor Hal Ashby – an Oscar winner for In the Heat of the Night (1967) – made a terrific directorial debut with this comedy-drama, in which Bridges as Elgar Enders learns about humanity and the African-American experience in honky New York from his tenants.

Elgar is mystified by the life experiences of Lanie (Marki Bey), a light-skinned exotic dancer who is ostracised for not being “black enough,” and he’s bewitched by Franny (the ill-fated Diana Sands), a gorgeous hairdresser married to hot-tempered activist Copee (Louis Gossett Jr.).

Lee Grant shines as Elgar’s mother, particularly in a scene where she enjoys a drunken lunch with one of Elgar’s tenants – no-bullshit fortune teller Marge (Pearl Bailey).

Fans of Hal Ashby’s subsequent cult classic Harold and Maude (1971) should check this out, as there is a lot to enjoy. It’s a strange amalgam of tenderness, satire, and innovative storytelling held together by Ashby’s mastery of editing and a series of powerful performances. He went on to direct such notable pictures as The Last Detail (1973), Shampoo (1975) and Being There (1979).

A great deal of the movie was filmed on location in the then-predominantly black and poor neighbourhood of Park Slope, Brooklyn. The film’s main exteriors were shot at 51 Prospect Place, near Sixth Avenue.

Elgar Enders
Beau Bridges
Marge
Pearl Bailey
Lanie
Marki Bey
Fanny
Diana Sands
Copee Johnson
Louis Gossett Jr
Walter Gee
Douglas Grant
Professor Duboise
Melvin Stewart
Mrs Joyce Enders
Lee Grant
Mr Enders
Walter Brooke
Susan
Susan Anspach
Peter
Robert Klein

Director
Hal Ashby

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