“There’s no place like home.” – Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz

The idea of what makes a house a home, and explorations of how and where Americans live, have powerfully informed many significant films over the years, in ways both subtly thought-provoking and farcically over-the-top. The National Building Museum is proud to partner with the American Film Institute (AFI) Silver Theatre and Cultural Center to present a film series associated with the Museum’s exhibition House & Home. "Reel Estate: The American Home on Film" presents a wide-ranging series of films focusing on the American home, from nostalgic classics like Gone With the Wind, to post-WWII suburban melodramas like No Down Payment, and to subversive comedies like Hal Ashby’s The Landlord.

The Landlord*
April 6, Saturday, 3:30 pm
Introduction by Deborah Sorensen, assistant curator, National Building Museum, on filming in the Park Slope neighborhood of 1960s Brooklyn.

What begins as an oddball farce—privileged white youth buys tenement building, intending to convert it into a psychedelic bachelor pad—evolves into something much more complex as Beau Bridge’s naive Elgar Enders spends time getting to know the African American tenants he had planned to evict. Oscar-winning editor Hal Ashby’s sly and stylish directorial debut boasts bold visuals, with Enders’ overlit, whiter than white family estate contrasting with the shadowy, well-worn apartment building located in the pre-gentrified neighborhood of Park Slope in Brooklyn (the artful cinematography is by Gordon Willis, soon to become a legend for THE GODFATHER). Further grounding the picture is the detailed production design by Hollywood veteran Robert Boyle, a master of stagebound illusion for Alfred Hitchcock, here transitioning in to more location-based work for producer Norman Jewison. DIR Hal Ashby; SCR Bill Gunn, based on the novel by Kristen Hunter; PROD Norman Jewison. US, 1970, color, 112 min. RATED PG

*Additional screening times available at AFI.com/Silver.

Ticket Information:
BUY TICKETS THROUGH AFI.com/Silver. $8.50 AFI and NBM members | $11.50 General Admission | $9 Seniors (65+), Students (with valid ID), and Military | $7 Children (12 and under).  Tickets may also be purchased at the box office (opens 30 minutes before the first show of the day).  Please note that tickets are not available for purchase through the National Building Museum.

The AFI Silver Theatre is located at 8633 Colesville Road in Silver Spring, Maryland, Silver Spring Metro, Red Line. 

Support for House & Home and related education programming is provided by The Home Depot Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Hanley Wood, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Andersen Corporate Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, MASCO Corporation Foundation, and AARP, among others.