February 16 – The Landlord (1970), 113 minutes, directed by Hal Ashby, starring Beau Bridges, Diana Sands, Pearl Bailey, and Lee Grant.
Beau Bridges is a pampered rich white boy who buys a tenement building in a black neighborhood in Brooklyn. He intends to convert it into his bachelor playhouse, but the occupants have other plans. The Landlord was the directorial debut of Hal Ashby (Harold and Maude, Shampoo, Coming Home), whose films came to be emblematic of an entire decade. Here he combines social drama, wit, a touch of romance, and unflinching commentary on race, colorism, gentrification, and justice in a film that now looks years ahead of its time.
February 2024 CinemaLit – Black Civil Rights on Screen
February is Black History Month, and CinemaLit will screen three vital and passionate recent films that captured moments in American civil rights history from the 1960s and '70s. A fourth film in our series does not look back on that era, but is of the era. Join us for Loving (2016), Judas and the Black Messiah (2021), The Landlord (1970), and BlacKkKlansman (2018). And as this is Academy Awards season, each film was an Oscar winner or nominee in at least one major category.
Matthew Kennedy, CinemaLit’s curator, has written biographies of Marie Dressler, Joan Blondell, and Edmund Goulding. His book Roadshow! The Fall of Film Musicals in the 1960s, was the basis of a film series on Turner Classic Movies. His most recent book, On Elizabeth Taylor: An Opinionated Guide, examines the screen legend's entire career.
“I don't have a favorite film,” Matthew says. "I find that my relationships to films, actors, genres, and directors change as I change over the years. Some don't hold up. Some look more profound, as though I've caught up with their artistry. I feel that way about Garbo, Cary Grant, director John Cassavetes, and others."
“Classic films have historical context, something only time can provide,” Matt observes. “They become these great cultural artifacts, so revealing of tastes, attitudes, and assumptions.”
Mechanics' Institute Members Free
Non-Members $10
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Please note: Photos and/or video may be taken during this event.
CinemaLit Films
