Main Cast: Armand Assante, Perry King, Sylvester Stallone, Henry Winkler, Paul Mace, Susan Blakely
Release Year: 1974
Country: US
Run Time: 86 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
This low-budget independent film by novice directors Stephen F. Verona and Martin Davidson is a slice-of-life elegy from the leather-jacket, bobby-soxer era of 1957, set in a Brooklyn high school. The film stands out for the appearance of up-and-coming actors (circa 1974) Sylvester Stallone, Henry Winkler, and Perry King (even Armand Assante has a bit role). Stallone, Winkler, King, and Paul Mace are members of a local neighbor social club called "The Lords of Flatbush," and they spend their time exercising their hormones, hot-wiring a car, playing pool, and quaffing egg creams at the local candy store. The film finally focuses its interest on two of the "lords." Chico (Perry King), owns a motorcycle and wheels over to see Jane Bradshaw (Susan Blakely), the daughter of an army colonel who, despite Chico's motorcycle, gives him the brush-off. Then there is the muscle-headed Stanley Rosiello (Sylvester Stallone), who, like Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront, loves pigeons. He also loves Frannie (Maria Smith), with whom he has bedded down under the boardwalk one too many times, and now finds that she is pregnant and wants to get married. Skirting along the edges of the frame are Butchey Weinstein (Henry Winkler) and Wimpy Murgalo (Paul Mace), who, as second bananas, go along with Chico and Stanley as they adjust their testosterone to adult living. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Maria Smith - Frannie Malincanico; Armand Assante; Paul Jabara - Crazy Cohen; Caren Kaye - Wedding Guest; Joan Newman - Miss Molina; Antonia Rey; Ray Sharkey; Geraldine Smith; Dolph Sweet - Rosiello; Martin Davidson - Birnbaum; Bruce Reed - Mike; Lou Byrne - Mrs. Bradshaw; Renee Paris - Annie Yuckamanelli; David Stein - Wedding Guest
Credit
Glenda Miller - Art Director, Martin Davidson - Director, Stephen F. Verona - Director, Muffie Meyer - Editor, Stan Siegel - Editor, Paul Jabara - Composer (Music Score), Joseph Brooks - Composer (Music Score), Glenda Ganis - Production Designer, Edward Lachman - Cinematographer, Joseph Mangine - Cinematographer, Stephen F. Verona - Producer, Richard Millman - Producer, Martin Davidson - Screenwriter, Sylvester Stallone - Screenwriter, Stephen F. Verona - Screenwriter, Gayle Gleckler - Screenwriter
Directed by Martin Davidson and Stephen Verona, The Lords of Flatbush is a low budget film starring Perry King, Henry Winkler and Sylvester Stallone (who also wrote additional dialog). Set in the late 1950s, 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 (King) attempting to win over Jane (Susan Blakely), a girl who wants little to do with him, and Stanley (Stallone), who impregnates his girlfriend Frannie, who wants him to marry her.
A portion of this film was produced in Stamford, Connecticut. The wedding scenes were filmed in an area of town called Cove on Dale Street.
