THE LORDS OF FLATBUSH
US, 1974, 86 minutes, Colour.
Perry King, Sylvester Stallone, Henry Winkler, Susan Blakely.
Directed by Martin Davidson and Stephen Verona.
The Lords of Flatbush is a Brooklyn story. It is about life in the streets, a memoir of the 1950s from the perspective of the 1970s.
The film was interesting insofar as three young actors were emerging on the cinema screen: Perry King, Sylvester Stallone who, within two years, was to win an Oscar for Rocky, and Henry Winkler who was to star in Happy Days on television as well as a number of films including The One and Only, Heroes and Nightshift. Henry Winkler also went into production and worked as a director.
Martin Davidson who co-wrote the film and also appears in it, made several films including Hero At Large, Eddie and the Cruisers, Long Gone and Heart of Dixie before moving into television work. His co-director, Stephen Verona, directed only a few films which include Boardwalk in 1979 with Lee Strasberg.
1. An example of seventies nostalgia for the fifties? The re-creation of that era? how it is looked at in this film? its impact on the seventies?
2. The significance of the title, the New York reference and emphases? The gangs and groups of the late fifties, in the cities?
3. The impact of the group? What was typical of a fifties group, their ideals and attitudes? The emphasis on toughness, appearance, dress, common interests? The physical overtones of the group? Playing pool, ‘Blackboard Jungle’ type of behaviour in school? What examples did the film rely on to communicate these attitudes?
4. The fact that the group came from well-to-do families? Their behaviour in the light of their family background? School background? human values? Rebellion? Questioning? Growing through values?
5. How sympathetic a person was the hero, his style, his attitude towards his girlfriend, his losing her?
6. The big Italian member of the group? His attitudes in school? Relationship with the rest of the group, the pressure from his pregnant girlfriend, his attitudes towards her girlfriend? The necessity to make decisions? The discussion about ring? Ups and downs in relationship leading to respectability and the wedding?
7. The other members of the group, their personalities, being led, their way of life?
8. How much of the film consisted of set pieces to illustrate the period and give insight into it? How much depth was there in the film and its presentation of a period?
