The Landlord (1970)

“[being held at gunpoint by Marge] I am the new landlord. And you are disregarding your lease by practicing whatever you’re practicing here with these, with these readings. I’ll have you thrown out! So if you want to shoot, just go ahead and shoot. That’ll be running an illegal business, nonpayment of rent… and manslaughter.” – Elgar Winthrop Julius Enders

Number of Times Seen – 1 (13 May 2019)

Brief Synopsis – The son of an affluent family leaves his parents home and buys a tenement in a low-cost area of New York in order to tear it down and build a luxury home for himself, but never expected to become landlord to the lower class families living there.

My Take on it – I came across this film during my quest to watch all films with Oscar nominated performances.

This is a movie that I had never even heard of beforehand and after watching it, it took a day or two for the message of it to really sink in which changes how I look back at it.

This film is quiet interesting since it serves as a social commentary on the differences between the races and classes and would probably never be made in today’s world due to the way people look at things from a more politically correct perspective.

The film is presented in such a way that despite not being PC, things still work quite well the whole way through.

This film is able to show the differences between perceived notions and actual differences between the various class and race structures.

Beau Bridges is great in the lead and is able to make us believe his character’s changed outlook on things as the story moves along.

Lee Grant was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her performance here as Bridges’ mother and she definitely stands out among the cast as she tries to deal with the changes her son has made in his life and love.

Bottom Line – Interesting film that serves as a social commentary for the time it was made. This kind of premise would be very frowned upon if made today due to the perception that things always need to be politically correct, but the way that this film presents things works quite well in spite of the fact that it isn’t PC at all. They are able to show the differences between perceived ideas about the differences in class and race and the actual differences once one is immersed in it all. Bridges is great in this film since he is able to change his character’s outlook on things as the story moves along. Grant was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role and definitely stands out among the entire cast as Bridges’ mother who must deal with the changes her son has made in his life and love. Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Lee Grant’s Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominated performance was the only one in the category not in a Best Picture nominee that year. (From IMDB)

Rating – Globe Worthy (7/10)