This morning OTBKB reader Brooke Dramer sent me a note that The Landlord is playing at BAM.

So I looked it up and sure enough, on Monday, August 27, The Landlord, a 1970 film filmed in Park Slope is playing at BAM.

And guess what it’s about: Yup, you guessed it. Gentrification.

WASP-y rich kid Elgar Enders played by a handsome Beau Bridges (did you see him in The Descendants?) buys an apartment building in Park Slope back when it was a grittier, less gentrified neighborhood. He plans to evict the current residents and turn the building into a nice home for himself.

When the black tenents refuse to move out, Enders embarks on a comic adventure that results in a personal turnaround on matters of life and race.

The film, directed by Hal Ashby is a comedy about gentrification and, says BAM, “presents a nuanced, daring exploration of race relations inAmericathat is surprisingly ahead of its time.”

I asked Dramer  to say something about the film. Here’s her reply:

“This is an e-mail volley between me and Ken Byrne, who has seen even more cult films than I have. Ken can’t recall any quotes from The Landlord–which means, just give up, because  no one else would relate to a Landlord quote in the headline.” –  Brooke

Brooke: Susan Anspach was pretty calm during The Landlord, walking around smoking a joint and casually spraying air freshener after each exhalation. But Idon’t  remember what she said. Or what Beau Bridges said. I just remember the expression on his face–especially when he ran about 1/4 mile while carrying a potted rhododendron in his arms.

Ken: The Landlord…hmm…It was filmed on Prospect Place btw 6th & 7th in 1969…You get to see a young Beau Bridges, a young Lou Gosset Jr. (Yes, he once was young!), Pearl Bailey, also youngish, and Susan Anspach, before she was in the insane Swedish classic, Montenegro. And whatever happened to the lovely Marki Bey?

A great, wise, sad, funny film