The Landlord

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The Landlord
promotional poster
Directed by	Hal Ashby
Produced by	Mirisch Company United Artists
Written by	Kristin Hunter Bill Gunn
Starring	Beau Bridges Lee Grant Marki Bey Diana Sands Pearl Bailey Louis Gossett, Jr.
Editing by	William A. Sawyer Edward Warschilka
Release date(s)	1970
Running time	113 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

The Landlord is a 1970 film directed by Hal Ashby, which was based on the novel by Kristin Hunter. The story centers around an insensitive and privileged 29 year old man named Elgar Enders, played by Beau Bridges.

Elgar Enders, a man who lives off his parent's wealth, buys himself an inner-city tenement, 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, played by Marki Bey and Diana Sands respectively.

Elgar ends up falling for Lanie, a dancer at a local black club. Lanie is a beautiful black woman who has a mother of Irish decent, 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. 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.

[edit] Awards and recognition

Lee Grant was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in the Academy Awards and the Golden Globe Awards, for her role as Elgar Ender's neurotic mother.

[edit] External links

• The Landlord at the Internet Movie Database
• The Landlord at Allmovie
• The Landlord at Rotten Tomatoes

v • d • e Films directed by Hal Ashby The Landlord (1970) • Harold and Maude (1971) • The Last Detail (1973) • Shampoo (1975) • Bound for Glory (1976) • Coming Home (1978) • Being There (1979) • Second-Hand Hearts (1981) • Lookin' to Get Out (1982) • Zapped! (1982) • Let's Spend the Night Together (1983) • The Slugger's Wife (1985) • 8 Million Ways to Die (1986)

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