The Landlord (1970)

A year before gaining cinematic immortality with his cult film Harold & Maude, Hal Ashby directed his first movie, an adaptation of African-American novelist Kristin Hunters 1966 novel The Landlord. Prior to directing Ashby had made his mark as director Norman Jewison's editor of choice, earing an Oscar for his work on 1967's In the Heat of the Night. As a lapsed Mormon from Ogden, Utah the anti-establishment themes of his directorial work may well have stemmed from an unhappy childhood. Watching this film I couldn't help but think what a middle finger it was to Mormon racial dogma of its time. This is not to say that racism is anything near a Mormon monopoly, though the films boldness in pointing out racial insensitivities is pronounced in a way that would have rubbed many contemporary Mormons, white southerners and others 'the wrong way'. Though not entirely uncritical of the urban black populace as regards a stream of self pity, the films big satiric guns go for the white establishment, most memorably conveyed in uneasy scenes at a costume party, and one of a wealthy white family having an argument with strong racist overtones as their black servants serve them the various courses.

The plot of the film centers on Elger Enders (Beau Bridges in one of his few screen roles in which he rivals his brother Jeff in lackadaisical coolness) the younger son of a respected, wealthy, WASP family, who at 29 finally purchases his own place, a tenement house in Brooklyn. At first Elger intends to evict the current tennets and dramatically remodel the building to his own tastes, but his contact with said tenants changes his mind. The story conceit of a man raised in a closed off society coming to embrace members of another social strata, and different race seems kind of trite and obvious when we think about it today, but then, and particularly in the way this movie does it, it was bold, so non-schmaltzy or romanticized, it is something to behold. This is not a movie about minimizing cultural differences, those differences are there and they matter, this is not a movie about making 'blacks' seem more 'white' for white audiences (as say Guess Whose Coming to Dinner largely was), but a movie about acknowledging those differences and then telling the white audience members to take care of the beam in there own eye before worrying about the mote in the others.

This is a bold film, but its also a clever one, its got unique editing flourishes, including the kind of  'peak into the characters mind' cutaways that wouldn't become main streamed until say Alley McBeal in the late 90's. The characters are often ideocentric but full (see again the works of David E Kelly). The aura of the film is kind of proto-hipster, but without trying to be. This is what distinguishes the work of Ashby and makes it to my mind superior to his later imitators, especially Wes Anderson who always seems to be trying too hard, Ashby makes this look easy, almost off the cuff. As impressive a first film as your likely to find out of any director, though sadly it seems to have been largely forgotten. A real find. ***1/2