# The Lords of Flatbush
**The Lords of Flatbush** is a 1974 American coming-of-age drama directed by Stephen F. Verona and Martin Davidson, set in 1958 in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn and following four high school friends who style themselves a gang called the Lords of Flatbush.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/55377-THE-LORDS-OF-FLATBUSH) • [2](https://www.filmsinreview.com/post/the-lords-of-flatbush) It is remembered chiefly for the careers it helped launch: [Sylvester Stallone](https://www.edgepedia.org/sylvester-stallone) and [Henry Winkler](https://www.edgepedia.org/henry-winkler), then unknowns, took their first major screen roles here, shortly before *Rocky* (1976) and the Fonz on *Happy Days* made them household names.[3](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thelordsofflatbush)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 1974, rated PG, 86 or 88 minutes; distributed by Columbia Pictures[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/55377-THE-LORDS-OF-FLATBUSH) |
| Directors and writers | Stephen F. Verona and Martin Davidson, with Gayle Gleckler; Stallone received an additional dialogue credit[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/55377-THE-LORDS-OF-FLATBUSH) |
| Principal cast | Perry King (Chico Tyrell), Stallone (Stanley Rosiello), Paul Mace (Wimpy Murgalo), Winkler (Butchey Weinstein), Susan Blakely (Jane Bradshaw), Maria Smith (Frannie Malincanico)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/55377-THE-LORDS-OF-FLATBUSH) |
| Setting | 1958, Flatbush, Brooklyn; many scenes filmed in and around Brooklyn, including Tilden High School after school hours[2](https://www.filmsinreview.com/post/the-lords-of-flatbush) • [1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/55377-THE-LORDS-OF-FLATBUSH) |
| Budget | Began at $100,000 from private investors; final budget $380,000; the film took three years to complete[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/55377-THE-LORDS-OF-FLATBUSH) |
| Box office | $4 million in receipts by January 1977 per *Daily Variety*; co-producer Richard Millman alleged $16 million three months later[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/55377-THE-LORDS-OF-FLATBUSH) |
| Critical scores | 63% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (16 reviews); Metascore 53 on Metacritic[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lords_of_flatbush) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-lords-of-flatbush/critic-reviews/) |
## Spoilers
### Story and setting
The film follows four lower middle-class Brooklyn teenagers in leather jackets who call themselves the Lords: the tough Stanley Rosiello (Stallone), the hotheaded Chico Tyrell (King), the easygoing Butchey Weinstein (Winkler), and Wimpy Murgalo (Paul Mace).[6](https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Lords-of-Flatbush-Blu-ray/375913/) The plot is loosely constructed, built around everyday dramas rather than a single driving conflict. Stanley's girlfriend Frannie tells him they have to marry, and Chico falls for Jane Bradshaw (Blakely), a blonde from a wealthier world he is both reacting against and aspiring to.[3](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thelordsofflatbush) • [7](https://time.com/archive/6877949/cinema-duck-tale/)
Critics have read the film as a portrait of the late-1950s greaser (1950s leather-jacketed working-class youth subculture) subculture on the edge of adulthood. Jay Cocks, reviewing for *TIME* in May 1974, wrote that it was "about growing up tough in New York, like *Mean Streets*, and being a teen-ager in the 1950s, like *American Graffiti*", and praised Stallone's "truly exceptional characterization" of Stanley, particularly a jewelry-store scene in which Stanley is pressured into a $1,600 engagement ring.[7](https://time.com/archive/6877949/cinema-duck-tale/)
## Production
**A handmade production.** Verona and Davidson began shooting with a budget of $100,000, funded mainly by private investors who were friends and family of the filmmakers, organized as a limited partnership with a roughly 50-50 split between cash contributors and sweat contributors; crew and vendors accepted deferred payments and profit participation.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/55377-THE-LORDS-OF-FLATBUSH) For the first five weeks of shooting Verona provided $50,000 of his own money. After a rough edit was shown to investors, the directors re-shot scenes, added a happier ending, and raised roughly $280,000 more for a final budget of $380,000; a 1978 *Variety* article stated the film took three years to complete.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/55377-THE-LORDS-OF-FLATBUSH)
Stallone's own recollection matches the shoestring character of the production. In a 2022 interview he said the film "was what you call a real handmade kind of film", that it took about two and a half years to make, that it was funded by a dentist, and that his pay was keeping his character's motorcycle jacket, with no SAG day rate.[8](https://www.bkmag.com/2022/11/17/sylvester-stallone-wants-you-to-know-im-not-that-monosyllabic-dark-and-petulant/) Filming took place in East Flatbush and [Coney Island](https://www.edgepedia.org/coney-island).[8](https://www.bkmag.com/2022/11/17/sylvester-stallone-wants-you-to-know-im-not-that-monosyllabic-dark-and-petulant/)
**Improvised dialogue.** The cast took part in extensive rehearsals before filming, and Verona and Davidson revised the script based on the actors' contributions, giving Stallone an additional dialogue credit.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/55377-THE-LORDS-OF-FLATBUSH) Much of the dialogue was improvised on camera, which the [Turner Classic Movies](https://www.edgepedia.org/turner-classic-movies) essay credits with producing a natural effect of real conversation; in one scene the jeweler is played by Davidson himself, visibly thrown off by Stallone's improvised question about a different ring.[9](https://www.tcm.com/articles/496027/the-lords-of-flatbush)
## Casting
Stallone, Winkler, and [Perry King](https://www.edgepedia.org/perry-king) were considered unknowns when cast.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/55377-THE-LORDS-OF-FLATBUSH) [Richard Gere](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-gere) was originally cast in the lead role of Chico, but he and Stallone did not get along; the two came to blows during filming, and director Davidson, more invested in Stallone and his work on the characters and dialogue, fired Gere and replaced him with King.[9](https://www.tcm.com/articles/496027/the-lords-of-flatbush) Stallone later told the story of a rehearsal break in the back of a Toyota at Coney Island, where Gere's mustard-covered chicken dripped onto Stallone's pants and Stallone elbowed him and pushed him out of the car; "The director had to make a decision: one of us had to go", Stallone said.[10](https://as.com/meristation/cine/el-dia-que-sylvester-stallone-y-richard-gere-casi-llegan-a-las-manos-por-un-pollo-con-mostaza-era-el-o-yo-n/) Stallone also recalled that [Robert De Niro](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-de-niro) and Michael Moriarty were involved at earlier stages, with people "coming and going" throughout.[8](https://www.bkmag.com/2022/11/17/sylvester-stallone-wants-you-to-know-im-not-that-monosyllabic-dark-and-petulant/)
Two other future stars appear in bit parts: [Armand Assante](https://www.edgepedia.org/armand-assante) as a wedding guest and [Brooke Adams](https://www.edgepedia.org/brooke-adams-actress) as a high school student.[9](https://www.tcm.com/articles/496027/the-lords-of-flatbush) Composer Joe Brooks, who had written jingles for over 150 commercials, made his feature film debut with the score.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/55377-THE-LORDS-OF-FLATBUSH)
## Release and aftermath
[Columbia Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/columbia-pictures) purchased domestic distribution rights in April 1974; rights, prints, and advertising had cost the studio $250,000 by that May.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/55377-THE-LORDS-OF-FLATBUSH) On release, a controversy arose because the [International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees](https://www.edgepedia.org/international-alliance-of-theatrical-stage-employees) (IATSE) seal had been applied to prints although IATSE workers had not been employed on the production; Columbia struck new prints without the seal and apologized to the union.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/55377-THE-LORDS-OF-FLATBUSH)
After *Rocky* made Stallone a star, Columbia planned an April 1977 re-release on a double bill with *Drive-In* (1976). By January 1977 *Daily Variety* reported $4 million in box-office receipts; in April 1977 co-producer Richard Millman alleged the total was $16 million.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/55377-THE-LORDS-OF-FLATBUSH) Columbia also planned a sequel, tentatively titled *Flatbush Abroad*, with Stallone and Maria Smith reprising Stanley and Frannie on a European trip won on the game show *Let's Make a Deal*; no sequel was produced.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/55377-THE-LORDS-OF-FLATBUSH) A 1987 audit commissioned by Verona found that the home video version had earned $983,800 between May and October 1986, of which Columbia had paid Verona's company only $91,000 under a promised fifty percent split of the home video gross.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/55377-THE-LORDS-OF-FLATBUSH)
## Reception and legacy
Critical response was mixed. The film holds a 63% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metascore of 53 on Metacritic, classified as mixed or average.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lords_of_flatbush) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-lords-of-flatbush/critic-reviews/) *Time Out* called it "a small masterpiece that places the mood and general ethos of the '50s with absolute precision", while Jay Cocks in *TIME* and Vincent Canby in *The New York Times* found it aimless and underdeveloped.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-lords-of-flatbush/critic-reviews/) The TCM essay notes that it never took off at the box office the way *American Graffiti* did, even when re-released and shown repeatedly on cable after its actors became stars.[9](https://www.tcm.com/articles/496027/the-lords-of-flatbush)
Its afterlife has rested on its cast. Winkler has acknowledged that Stallone's swaggering demeanor in the film influenced his approach to playing the Fonz on *Happy Days*, which debuted the same year.[2](https://www.filmsinreview.com/post/the-lords-of-flatbush) [Quentin Tarantino](https://www.edgepedia.org/quentin-tarantino) has written about the film on the website of the New Beverly Cinema, the theater he owns, calling it the first independent film with a gritty New York aesthetic.[11](https://psychotroniccinema.com/2020/03/16/blu-ray-review-the-lords-of-flatbush/) Verona later chronicled the production in his book *The Making of The Lords of Flatbush*.[12](https://sylvesterstallone.com/the-making-of-lords-of-flatbush/) Paul Mace, the one member of the gang who did not go on to stardom, made only one other film, Stallone's *Paradise Alley* (1978), and died in an automobile accident in 1983 at the age of 33.[9](https://www.tcm.com/articles/496027/the-lords-of-flatbush)
## References
1. [The Lords of Flatbush (1974), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/55377-THE-LORDS-OF-FLATBUSH)
2. [The Lords of Flatbush, Blu-ray review, Films in Review (2025)](https://www.filmsinreview.com/post/the-lords-of-flatbush)
3. [The Lords of Flatbush, Sony Pictures Entertainment](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thelordsofflatbush)
4. [The Lords of Flatbush, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lords_of_flatbush)
5. [The Lords of Flatbush critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-lords-of-flatbush/critic-reviews/)
6. [The Lords of Flatbush Blu-ray Review, Blu-ray.com (2025)](https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Lords-of-Flatbush-Blu-ray/375913/)
7. [Cinema: Duck Tale, TIME (May 20, 1974)](https://time.com/archive/6877949/cinema-duck-tale/)
8. [Sylvester Stallone on 'Tulsa King', Brooklyn Magazine (2022)](https://www.bkmag.com/2022/11/17/sylvester-stallone-wants-you-to-know-im-not-that-monosyllabic-dark-and-petulant/)
9. [The Lords of Flatbush, Turner Classic Movies essay by Greg Ferrara (2012)](https://www.tcm.com/articles/496027/the-lords-of-flatbush)
10. [El día que Sylvester Stallone y Richard Gere casi llegan a las manos por un pollo con mostaza, AS.com (2024)](https://as.com/meristation/cine/el-dia-que-sylvester-stallone-y-richard-gere-casi-llegan-a-las-manos-por-un-pollo-con-mostaza-era-el-o-yo-n/)
11. [The Lords of Flatbush Blu-ray Review, Psychotronic Cinema (2020)](https://psychotroniccinema.com/2020/03/16/blu-ray-review-the-lords-of-flatbush/)
12. [The making of Lords of Flatbush, SylvesterStallone.com (2008)](https://sylvesterstallone.com/the-making-of-lords-of-flatbush/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 1970s › Released 1970 to 1974*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license