The Landlord

Name: The Landlord
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Romance
Released: May 20, 1970
Duration: 112 min
Rating: 75
Cast: Beau Bridges, Diana Sands, Lee Grant, Louis Gossett Jr., Marki Bey

1970

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Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews

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Movie Details & Credits

United Artists | Release Date: May 20, 1970 | TV-MA

Starring: Beau Bridges, Diana Sands, Lee Grant, Louis Gossett Jr., Marki Bey, Mel Stewart, Pearl Bailey, Robert Klein, Susan Anspach, Walter Brooke

Summary: 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 thoughtsAt 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 mixed race 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.… Expand

Director: Hal Ashby

Genre(s): Drama, Comedy, Romance

Rating: TV-MA

Runtime: 112 min

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Critic Reviews

Keith Phipps

The film captures a moment, playfully but without losing sight of the stakes, when the hot political temperatures of the late ’60s and early ’70s made change of one kind or another look inevitable. Read full review

J. Hoberman

One of the funniest social comedies of its period. Read full review

Steven Boone

With so many brilliant collaborators and points of view, whose movie—whose dream—is it anyway? Ashby seems to say it’s all of ours. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Staff (Not Credited)

The film offers some fine performances, and Ashby's quirky but skillful direction allows the individual personalities of the characters to shine through. The script has a few uneven moments, none of which damage the overall quality of the film, and Willis captures the atmosphere of both rich and poor New York lifestyles with an impressive visual style. Read full review

Roger Ebert

Instead of staying on that safe, predictable level, it begins to dig into the awkwardness and hypocrisy of our commonly shared, attitudes about race. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

Beau Bridges heads the uniformly excellent cast as a bored rich youth who buys a black ghetto apartment building and learns something about life. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

The Landlord is a glossy, flat, fake Hollywood attempt at black social comedy. Read full review

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