Film Forum

(1970) Callow, whiter than white rich yuppie Beau Bridges finds his dream house: a tenement building in way-before-gentrification Park Slope. Think he’ll get African-American tenants Pearl Bailey, Lou Gossett Jr., Diana Sands, et al. to move out? 35mm. Approx. 112 min.

Reviews

“No film of the period is more prescient.” 
– Jason Bailey, Flavorwire

“One of the funniest social comedies of the period, as well as the most human.”
– J. Hoberman, The Village Voice

“Leaves an almost eerie tonic effect of truth and laughter.”
– The New York Times

“Full of sharp, absurdist humor.”
– Pauline Kael

“A more honest, if less optimistic, portrait of American race relations than we usually see in the movies.”
– Roger Ebert

“The Landlord deserves attention, and not just because it’s a terrific film. It is a chance for audiences to see a pivotal moment not only in the career of Mr. Ashby but also in the histories of American film and, coincidentally, of New York real estate.
– Mike Hale

“Like a Blaxploitation movie made by Buñuel.”
– Darren Hughes, Senses of Cinema

“A wondrously wise, sad and hilarious comedy. Leaves an almost eerie tonic effect of truth and laughter, with some of the sharpest, funniest dialogue in a long time.”
– The New York Times

“There’s something really great about it, and it’s a film that I’d kind of fallen in love with. There’s something unique about the softness of the colors, about the way you can light things well but they’re not overly sharp and vivid. There’s just something more human about them, a more poetic way of capturing reality.”
– Alexander Payne