The movie received kind reviews when it was released and it provided an opportunity for the pre-Happy Days Henry Winkler and pre-Rocky Sylvester Stallone to stand out as actors. They do a reasonable job, as does the star, Perry King.

The only problem is,...WHY did they make this film in the first place?! No one in the movie is worth caring about one little bit. It is a slice of 1950s and tells the story about a group of four sociopathic gang members. King's only ambition is to lie and cheat his way into girls' skirts and steal cars. Stallone's only ambition to to act EXACTLY like his character in Death Race 2000 (i.e., beat up EVERYONE). And Winkler's job is to be less despicable than the other two. There is a fourth gang member who pretty much disappears in the movie.

So once again, why did they make this film? At the end, they seem to try very hard look back fondly at our "lost youth", but considering THESE guys were the one who beat up everyone else during high school, why would you want to portray THEM in a movie--and their youth was spent hurting everyone around them!

Growing up in Brooklyn in the 50s people like the 4 guys who are our protagonists here were a common sight, they were the older generation by a half for someone born in 1947.

The Lords Of Flatbush were Perry King, Sylvester Stallone, Henry Winkler and Paul Mace. Every high school had them, kids like these who populated The Blackboard Jungle. As you will note two of the four had some substantial careers on the big and small screens. For Henry Winkler this part was a dress rehearsal for Arthur Fonzarelli. And Rocky was in the distant future for Sylvester Stallone.

Part of it in the 50s is that many thought there was no future as the threat of nuclear annihilation stood over us. So just go out and have a great old time because there will be no responsibilities for you to assume. That underlay a lot of the thinking then.

There's no real plot in Lords Of Flatbush, it's a a character study of four knockabout guys who can't see a future beyond their good times. At least one of them does in the end, I will not say who.

One really glaring fault was the scene at the drive-in movie. First of all From Here To Eternity was out five years earlier than 1958 when this film is supposed to take place. Secondly though there were no drive-ins in the Borough of Brooklyn, I can attest to that. In that same year I was introduced to the concept of the drive-in, but I had to go upstate to experience it.

Susan Blakely also got her first notice in The Lords Of Flatbush. What she tells Perry King in the end if the message if any this film has.

It's 1958 Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn. High school friends David 'Chico' Tyrell (Perry King),Stanley Rosiello (Sylvester Stallone),Butchey Weinstein (Henry Winkler) and Wimpy Murgalo (Paul Mace) call themselves the Lord's. They ride motorcycle, wear leather jackets, and are overall juvenile delinquents. Stanley got his girlfriend Frannie Malincanico pregnant and she wants to get married. Chico is having sex with Annie Yuckamanelli. Then WASP Jane Bradshaw (Susan Blakely) is new to their school and Chico tries his best to get with her.

It's a lower budget movie that is most notable for young newcomers Perry King, Sly, and the Fonz. Perry King is playing the lead and he's got the leading man looks. Sly shows off his acting skills and one can see Rocky in this performance. He's the most impressive of everyone there. The scene of him buying the ring is so great although the girls disrupted it too much. The Fonz has less screen time and more of a side story. The production is pretty poor and the writing is standard coming of age. Other than a couple of scenes, this is generally pretty slow and amateurish.