The Landlord (1970)

At the age of twenty-nine, Elgar Enders "runs away" from home. This running away consists of buying a building in a black ghetto in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn. Initially his ... See full summary »

Director:

Hal Ashby

Writers:

Bill Gunn (screenplay), Kristin Hunter (novel)

Stars:

Beau Bridges, Lee Grant, Diana Sands

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Beau Bridges	...	Elgar
Lee Grant	...	Mrs. Enders
Diana Sands	...	Fanny
Pearl Bailey	...	Marge
Walter Brooke	...	Mr. Enders
Louis Gossett Jr.	...	Copee (as Lou Gossett)
Marki Bey	...	Lanie
Mel Stewart	...	Professor Duboise (as Melvin Stewart)
Susan Anspach	...	Susan Enders
Robert Klein	...	Peter (as Bob Klein)
Will Mackenzie	...	William Jr.
Gretchen Walther	...	Doris
Douglas Grant	...	Walter Gee
Stanley Greene	...	Heywood
Oliver Clark	...	Mr. Farcus

Storyline

At the age of twenty-nine, Elgar Enders "runs away" from home. This running away consists of buying a building in a black ghetto in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn. Initially his intention is to evict the black tenants and convert it into a posh flat. But Elgar is not one to be bound by yesterday's urges, and soon he has other thoughts on his mind. He's grown fond of the black tenants and particularly of Fanny, the wife of a black radical; he's maybe fallen in love with Lanie, a mulatto girl; he's lost interest in redecorating his home. Joyce, his mother has not relinquished this interest and in one of the film's most hilarious sequences gives her Master Charge card to Marge, a black tenant and appoints her decorator.

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Plot Keywords:

tenant | mulatto | love | adultery | marriage | 

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Taglines:

Watch the landlord get his.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 May 1970 (USA)

Also Known As:

A háziúr

Filming Locations:

51 Prospect Place, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cartier Productions, Mirisch Corporation, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min 110 min (Turner library print)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Hal Ashby:  bearded hippie/groom in opening shot.

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Quotes

Elgar Winthrop Julius Enders: [being held at gunpoint by Marge] I am the new landlord. And you are disregarding your lease by practicing whatever you're practicing here with these, with these readings. I'll have you thrown out! So if you want to shoot, just go ahead and shoot. That'll be running an illegal business, nonpayment of rent... and manslaughter.

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Connections

References Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)

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Soundtracks

"A Man"
Lyrics and Music by Al Kooper
Sung by Al Kooper

User Reviews

Beau Bridges in a great , rare seen film

Made in 1970, the Landlord with Beau Bridges is one of the

best dramatic and comedic Seventies movies I have seen.

I saw on it on Turner Classic Movies and after a couple of

minutes of watching it, I knew it was good.

Beau Bridges is the son of a wealthy but racist white mom, who falls in love with a black woman named Fanny and who ends up actually having a baby with her!!!

Elgar's mother, Mrs. Enders is the owner of a building in

which several black people live in. Mrs. Enders cares nothing about the people except that they pay her on time with rent.

Elgar, on the other hand, is a sensitive and open minded

guy who gets along with everyone in the building with the

exception of a black racist professor named Professor Duboise (Melvin Stewart). Every encounter these two have, results in either Duboise mocking the white society, or

Duboise, try to show Elgar how superior black people are

to white people.

When it was it released it probably got alot of controversy

because interracial romances was something that just wasn't shown on screen. Making things more complicated is

the fact, that black men and women still didn't have the rights that white people in the time.

It's a great example of great cinema directing, in one scene, Elgar Enders (Beau) has just made love to

Fanny, then the girls leans over and tells him that she

loves her boyfriend Copee (played by Louis Gosset Jr in

one of his first movie appearences). The scene then cutaways to Elgar running to talk to another girl for advice

while Fanny is telling Elgar this.

Copee is a black, jealous and violent boyfriend of Fanny.

When he learns that Fanny is pregnant and he is not the father, he goes berserk, beating Fanny into telling him who the father is.

Once Copee, learns who it is, he grabs an axe and goes

after Elgar!!!!

I loved the film because it breaks several stereotypes:

*It shows that color doesn't matter when we are talking about love, it's all about the feelings a man and woman feel for each other that is important.

*Elgar represents a group of conscious men who don't see Blacks and other minorities as inferior. In fact, throughout the film, Elgar is actually happier with his

black friends than with his own mother.

*There are several messages about the dysfunctional family.

Elgar's mother (Lee Grant) is a rich white woman who has everything, yet she is a cold, miserable woman.

It was interesting to see Louis Gossett Jr. (Copee) as a crazy , jealous boyfriend . He usually plays good guy roles, but in this role, he nails his part by playing a guy who

has completely lost it.

The movie was directed by Hal Ashby, a man who has directed

several important cult films of our time including:

*Being There (1979 film with Peter Sellers ) *Shampoo (Great 1975 film with Warren Beatty and Julie Christie)

* Coming Home (A good 1978 film with Jane Fonda)

This is a very good movie, hard to find on video, but I highly recommend it.