The Landlord
Encyclopedia
The Landlord is a 1970 film directed by Hal Ashby
, which was based on the novel by Kristin Hunter
. The film stars Beau Bridges
in the lead role of a well to do white man who becomes landlord of an inner city tenement, unaware that the people he is responsible for are low-income, streetwise residents. Also in the cast are Diana Sands
, Lee Grant
, Pearl Bailey
, and Louis Gossett, Jr.
. The film was Ashby's first film as director.
), a man who lives off his parents' wealth, buys himself an inner-city tenement, in the transitional neighborhood of 1970 Park Slope, Brooklyn
, planning to evict all the occupants and construct a luxury home for himself. However, once he ventures into the tenement, he gradually grows fond of the low-income black residents who dwell there. Enders decides to remain as the landlord, and help fix the apartment building. He rebels against his WASP
upbringing, and to his parents' dismay, he romances two black women, Lanie and Fanny, (Marki Bey and Diana Sands
, respectively).
Elgar falls for Lanie, a dancer at a local black club. Lanie is a beautiful black woman who has a mother of Irish descent, and a father of African descent, thus she has light skin and features, and has experienced colorism
because of it. Their relationship is strained, as Elgar has an affair with one of his tenants, Fanny, and gets her pregnant. Consequently, 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. He ultimately stops. The Enders family is shaken and stirred by their son's decisions and behavior, but reluctantly accepts him. Ultimately, Fanny disowns the illegitimate, Caucasian
looking child and gives him to Elgar. The story ends with Elgar taking custody of his love child, mending his relationship with his girlfriend Lanie, and moving in with her.
it has received a 100% overall approval from 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 Martin Luther King, Jr.
's death and wrote in surprise how the film, "...would disappear after its 1970 release — rarely shown and just as rarely discussed."
BAFTA Awards
Golden Globe Awards
Golden Laurel Awards
Hal Ashby
Hal Ashby was an American film director and film editor.-Birth and early years:Born William Hal Ashby in Ogden, Utah, Ashby grew up in a Mormon household and had a tumultuous childhood as part of a dysfunctional family which included the divorce of his parents, his father's suicide and his...
, which was based on the novel by Kristin Hunter
Kristin Hunter
Kristin Elaine Hunter was an African American writer from Pennsylvania. She sometimes wrote under the name Kristin Hunter Lattany....
. The film stars Beau Bridges
Beau Bridges
Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III is an American actor and director.- Early life :Bridges was born in Los Angeles, the son of actor Lloyd Bridges and his college sweetheart, Dorothy Bridges . He was nicknamed "Beau" by his mother and father after Ashley Wilkes's son in Gone with the Wind, the book...
in the lead role of a well to do white man who becomes landlord of an inner city tenement, unaware that the people he is responsible for are low-income, streetwise residents. Also in the cast are Diana Sands
Diana Sands
Diana Sands was an American dramatic actress, perhaps most famous for her portrayal of Beneatha Younger, the sister of Sidney Poitier's character in the original film version of Lorraine Hansberry's Raisin in the Sun...
, Lee Grant
Lee Grant
Lee Grant is an American stage, film and television actress, and film director. She was blacklisted for 12 years from film work beginning in the mid-1950s, but worked in the theatre, and would eventually win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Felicia Carp in the...
, Pearl Bailey
Pearl Bailey
Pearl Mae Bailey was an American actress and singer. After appearing in vaudeville, she made her Broadway debut in St. Louis Woman in 1946. She won a Tony Award for the title role in the all-black production of Hello, Dolly! in 1968...
, and Louis Gossett, Jr.
Louis Gossett, Jr.
Louis Cameron Gossett, Jr. is an American actor best known for his role as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman and Fiddler in the 1970s television miniseries Roots...
. The film was Ashby's first film as director.
Plot
Elgar Enders (Beau BridgesBeau Bridges
Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III is an American actor and director.- Early life :Bridges was born in Los Angeles, the son of actor Lloyd Bridges and his college sweetheart, Dorothy Bridges . He was nicknamed "Beau" by his mother and father after Ashley Wilkes's son in Gone with the Wind, the book...
), a man who lives off his parents' wealth, buys himself an inner-city tenement, in the transitional neighborhood of 1970 Park Slope, Brooklyn
Park Slope, Brooklyn
Park Slope is a neighborhood in western Brooklyn, New York City's most populous borough. Park Slope is roughly bounded by Prospect Park West to the east, Fourth Avenue to the west, Flatbush Avenue to the north, and 15th Street to the south, though other definitions are sometimes offered. Generally...
, planning to evict all the occupants and construct a luxury home for himself. However, once he ventures into the tenement, he gradually grows fond of the low-income black residents who dwell there. Enders decides to remain as the landlord, and help fix the apartment building. He rebels against his WASP
White Anglo-Saxon Protestant
White Anglo-Saxon Protestant or WASP is an informal term, often derogatory or disparaging, for a closed group of high-status Americans mostly of British Protestant ancestry. The group supposedly wields disproportionate financial and social power. When it appears in writing, it is usually used to...
upbringing, and to his parents' dismay, he romances two black women, Lanie and Fanny, (Marki Bey and Diana Sands
Diana Sands
Diana Sands was an American dramatic actress, perhaps most famous for her portrayal of Beneatha Younger, the sister of Sidney Poitier's character in the original film version of Lorraine Hansberry's Raisin in the Sun...
, respectively).
Elgar falls for Lanie, a dancer at a local black club. Lanie is a beautiful black woman who has a mother of Irish descent, and a father of African descent, thus she has light skin and features, and has experienced colorism
Colorism
Colorism is prejudice or discrimination in which human beings are accorded differing social treatment based on skin color. The preference often gets translated into economic status because of opportunities for work. Colorism can be found across the world...
because of it. Their relationship is strained, as Elgar has an affair with one of his tenants, Fanny, and gets her pregnant. Consequently, 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. He ultimately stops. The Enders family is shaken and stirred by their son's decisions and behavior, but reluctantly accepts him. Ultimately, Fanny disowns the illegitimate, Caucasian
Caucasian race
The term Caucasian race has been used to denote the general physical type of some or all of the populations of Europe, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Western Asia , Central Asia and South Asia...
looking child and gives him to Elgar. The story ends with Elgar taking custody of his love child, mending his relationship with his girlfriend Lanie, and moving in with her.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Beau Bridges Beau Bridges Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III is an American actor and director.- Early life :Bridges was born in Los Angeles, the son of actor Lloyd Bridges and his college sweetheart, Dorothy Bridges . He was nicknamed "Beau" by his mother and father after Ashley Wilkes's son in Gone with the Wind, the book... |
Elgar Winthrop Julius Enders |
| Lee Grant Lee Grant Lee Grant is an American stage, film and television actress, and film director. She was blacklisted for 12 years from film work beginning in the mid-1950s, but worked in the theatre, and would eventually win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Felicia Carp in the... |
Joyce Enders |
| Marki Bey | Lanie |
| Diana Sands Diana Sands Diana Sands was an American dramatic actress, perhaps most famous for her portrayal of Beneatha Younger, the sister of Sidney Poitier's character in the original film version of Lorraine Hansberry's Raisin in the Sun... |
Francine MarieJohnson |
| Pearl Bailey Pearl Bailey Pearl Mae Bailey was an American actress and singer. After appearing in vaudeville, she made her Broadway debut in St. Louis Woman in 1946. She won a Tony Award for the title role in the all-black production of Hello, Dolly! in 1968... |
Marge |
| Louis Gossett, Jr. Louis Gossett, Jr. Louis Cameron Gossett, Jr. is an American actor best known for his role as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman and Fiddler in the 1970s television miniseries Roots... |
Copee Johnson |
| Walter Brooke Walter Brooke Walter Brooke was an American actor. Brooke is best known for playing Mr. McGuire in The Graduate, where he said his famous line, "Plastics".... |
William Enders |
| Will Mackenzie Will MacKenzie William Ruggles MacKenzie is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour.MacKenzie was born and raised in Greenville, North Carolina. He was a golfing prodigy growing up but burned out on golf at age 14 and completely quit the game after high school... |
William Enders, Jr. |
| Susan Anspach Susan Anspach -Private life:Anspach was born in New York City and was raised in Queens, New York. She graduated from William Cullen Bryant High School in Long Island City in 1960. Paul Simon was a neighbor. She enrolled in the music department at the Catholic University of America... |
Susan Enders |
| Robert Klein Robert Klein Robert Klein is an American stand-up comedian, singer and actor.-Early life:Klein was born in the Bronx, the son of Frieda and Benjamin Klein, and was raised in a "prototypical 1950s Bronx Jewish" environment. After graduating from DeWitt Clinton High School, Klein planned to study medicine... |
Peter Coots |
Critical reaction
The film garnered mostly positive reviews from critics. On Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
it has received a 100% overall approval from critics. Upon its release, New York Times film critic Howard Thompson
Howard Thompson (film critic)
Howard Thompson was an US journalist and film critic whose career of forty-one years was spent at the New York Times....
, 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 Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
's death and wrote in surprise how the film, "...would disappear after its 1970 release — rarely shown and just as rarely discussed."
Award and nominations
Academy AwardsAcademy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
- Nominated, "Best Actress in a Supporting Role" — Lee Grant
BAFTA Awards
- Nominated, "UN Award"
Golden Globe Awards
- Nominated, "Best Supporting Actress" — Lee Grant
Golden Laurel Awards
Producers Guild of America
Producers Guild of America is a trade organization representing television producers, film producers and New Media producers in the United States. The PGA's membership includes over 4,700 members of the producing establishment worldwide...
- Nominated, "Best Supporting Female Performance" — Lee Grant
- Nominated, "Female Star of Tomorrow" — Diana Sands