The Lords of Flatbush

The Lords of Flatbush
File:The-Lords-of-Flatbush.jpg DVD cover
Directed by	Martin Davidson Stephen Verona
Produced by	Stephen F. Verona
Written by	Martin Davidson Gayle Gleckler Stephen Verona Sylvester Stallone (additional dialogue)
Starring	Perry King Sylvester Stallone Henry Winkler Paul Mace
Music by	Joe Brooks Paul Jabara Joseph Nicholas
Cinematography	Edward Lachman Joseph Mangine
Edited by	Muffie Meyer Stan Siegel
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release dates	May 1, 1974 (1974-05-01)
Running time	86 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$160,000 (estimated)
Box office	$4 million (rentals) (US/Canada)

The Lords of Flatbush (stylized onscreen as The Lord's of Flatbush) is a 1974 American drama film about street teenagers in leather jackets from the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.

Directed by Martin Davidson and Stephen Verona, The Lords of Flatbush is a low-budget film starring Perry King, Henry Winkler and Sylvester Stallone. Stallone was also credited with writing additional dialogue.

A portion of this film was shot in Stamford, Connecticut. The wedding scenes were filmed in an area of town called Cove on Dale Street. Some school scenes were shot at Abraham Lincoln High School in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn. The opening exterior scenes were shot at Samuel J. Tilden High School, the only school used in the film which is actually located in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn.

Richard Gere was originally cast in this movie but, after coming to blows with Sylvester Stallone, was given his walking papers by the director.

Plot

Set in 1958, the coming-of-age story follows four Brooklyn teenagers known as The Lords of Flatbush. The Lords chase girls, steal cars, play pool and hang out at a local malt shop. The film focuses on Chico (Perry King) attempting to win over Jane (Susan Blakely), a girl who wants little to do with him, and Stanley (Sylvester Stallone), who impregnates his girlfriend, Frannie (Maria Smith), who pressures him to marry her. At their wedding, it is revealed that Frannie never was pregnant. Butchey Weinstein (Henry Winkler) is highly intelligent but hides his brains behind a clownish front, while Wimpy Murgalo (Paul Mace) is a colorless follower in awe of Chico and Stanley.

Cast

• Perry King as Chico Tyrell
• Sylvester Stallone as Stanley Rosiello
• Henry Winkler as Butchey Weinstein
• Paul Mace as Wimpy Murgalo
• Susan Blakely as Jane Bradshaw
• Maria Smith as Frannie Malincanico
• Renee Paris as Annie Yuckamanelli
• Paul Jabara as Crazy Cohen
• Bruce Reed as Mike Mambo
• Ray Sharkey as Student
• Dolph Sweet as Stanley's father

Production

Richard Gere was originally cast as Chico but was fired due to conflicts with Stallone during rehearsals. As Stallone put it:

We never hit it off. He would strut around in his oversized motorcycle jacket like he was the baddest knight at the round table. One day, during an improv, he grabbed me (we were simulating a fight scene) and got a little carried away. I told him in a gentle fashion to lighten up, but he was completely in character and impossible to deal with. Then we were rehearsing at Coney Island and it was lunchtime, so we decided to take a break, and the only place that was warm was in the backseat of a Toyota. I was eating a hotdog and he climbs in with a half a chicken covered in mustard with grease nearly dripping out of the aluminum wrapper. I said, “That thing is going to drip all over the place.” He said, “Don’t worry about it.” I said, “If it gets on my pants you’re gonna know about it.” He proceeds to bite into the chicken and a small, greasy river of mustard lands on my thigh. I elbowed him in the side of the head and basically pushed him out of the car. The director had to make a choice: one of us had to go, one of us had to stay. Richard was given his walking papers and to this day seriously dislikes me.

See also

• List of American films of 1974

External links

• The Lords of Flatbush at IMDb
• The Lords of Flatbush at the TCM Movie Database
• The Lords of Flatbush at AllMovie
• The Lords of Flatbush at Box Office Mojo