The Lord's of Flatbush (1974)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Directors:

Martin Davidson
Stephen Verona

Writers:

Stephen Verona (screenplay) and
Gayle Gleckler (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

20 May 1975 (Sweden)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

When was the last time someone gave you a hickey?

Plot:

A group of kids in Brooklyn form a gang. From this moment on they do everything together. This makes...

Plot Keywords:

Drive In | Pigeon | 1950s | Pregnancy Issue | New York

Cast

Perry King	...	Chico Tyrell
Sylvester Stallone	...	Stanley Rosiello
Henry Winkler	...	Butchey Weinstein
Paul Mace	...	Wimpy Murgalo
Susan Blakely	...	Jane Bradshaw
Maria Smith	...	Frannie Malincanico
Renee Paris	...	Annie Yuckamanelli (as Reneé Paris)
Paul Jabara	...	Crazy Cohen
Bruce Reed	...	Mike Mambo
Frank Stiefel	...	Arnie Levine
Martin Davidson	...	Mr. Birnbaum
Joe Stern	...	Eddie
Ruth Klinger	...	Mrs. Tyrell
Joan Neuman	...	Miss Molina
Dolph Sweet	...	Mr. Rosiello

Also Known As:

The Lords of Flatbush (USA) (poster title)

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Iceland:12 | West Germany:16 (video rating) | Denmark:A (2003) | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:15 (video rating) | USA:PG | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The title on screen is actually a shot of the back of the jacket of one of the gang members, and the ungrammatical "The Lord's of Flatbush" is exactly how it is rendered, to show that these guys may be lords of Flatbush, but they're not lords of English grammar.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Stanley, Butchy and Wimpy go to steal a car in a lot, it's a dry night. As they are driving the car out of the lot, the roads are wet and the car's windshield is soaked with rain.

Quotes:

Stanley Rosiello: If you ever show my girl a ring like that again, you know what's gonna be written on your tombstone? "I was dumb enough to show Frannie Malincanico a $1600 ring," ya got that?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Gilmore Girls: Luke Can See Her Face (#4.20)" (2004)

Soundtrack:

Drive-In Riff

Doesn't live up to its promise.

Here we have early film appearances from a number of guys who went on to varying degrees of stardom. I think this is mostly what this movie's good reputation is based on. But I didn't find it quite so compelling as a film.

This flick is about four high school boys in 1950's Brooklyn who belong to a "social-athletic club" (others would say gang) called the Lords. As is often the case in movies, they all look like they saw the end of high school some years before. The four (Perry King, Sylvester Stallone, Henry Winkler, Paul Mace) are poised on the brink of adulthood and the responsibility that it will bring. The film is shot in a manner that is almost cinema verite, with lots of hand-held cameras getting grainy-looking closeups. The dialog also is obviously meant to be realistic, but I found it often less than scintillating. I waited around for the bigger issues to be tackled and the larger truths to be revealed, but they are not exactly enlightening, either. A faux-'50's music soundtrack doesn't help much.

Despite these negative comments, I would give 'The Lords of Flatbush' a marginal "thumbs up," mostly for effort. It does do a good job of depicting the culture and local color of the place and time it represents. But this is no definitive film about either coming of age or life in Brooklyn in the 1950's.