The Landlord
Directed by Hal Ashby
Written by Bill Gunn from a novel by Kristin Hunter
1970/US
IMDb page
First viewing/YouTube
Fanny: He thinks the Lord put white people on this earth as punishment. ‘Course I don’t hold with no sacrilegious talk like that.
Hal Ashby’s directorial debut comes complete with his signature quirky world view.
At age 29, Elgar Enders (Beau Bridges) still lives with his wealthy parents in their palatial mansion. Elgar gets the idea of building his own home. Interestingly, he decides to buy a Brooklyn tenement building, evict all the black tenants, and redecorate. This will be easier said than done. The tenents soon have Elgar wrapped around their little fingers.
Elgar develops warm relationships with sassy Marge (Pearl Bailey); Fanny (Diana Sands) and her radical husband Copee (Lou Gossett Jr.); and begins to fall for biracial beauty Lanie (Marki Bey). Elgar’s mother (Lee Grant) tries to butt in by financing the redecorating plan.
This sharply written comedy about race relations features some nice performances and is quite entertaining. It doesn’t hold a candle to my beloved Harold and Maude (1971) but then what would?
Lee Grant was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance in this film.
