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The Landlord
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| 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. |
| 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. "The Landlord" offers messages with a leftist socio-political conscious about interracial romance and class struggle.
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 rebells 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 reverse racism 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 assault Elgar. The Enders family is shaken and stirred by their son's decisions and behavior, but reluctantly accepts him. Ultimately, Fanny and Copee disown the illegitimate child and give it 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.
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.