MOVIE NEWS – The feud between Sylvester Stallone and Richard Gere began fifty years ago…
Although the Golden Globe and Critics Choice award-winning actor has been successful in the Hollywood spotlight for decades, the career of Sylvester Stallone had a tough start. In the first three years, when he was just finding his place, he appeared almost exclusively as an extra, mostly in films of dubious reputation.
This problematic period lasted until directors Stephen F. Verona and Martin Davidson made the coming-of-age drama The Lords of Flatbush. The approximately 86-minute film, which explored the rough and tough biker culture of the 50s (just like Happy Days and Grease), starred not only Sylvester Stallone but also other up-and-coming actors of the era, such as Perry King, Henry Winkler and Paul Mace. The film was an honest movie about four leather-jacketed, boisterous teenagers trying to find their place in life – but Richard Gere was originally given the lead role.
Badass bikers and some fried chicken
The main characters of The Lords of Flatbush, Stanley Rosiello (Stallone), Chico Tyrell (King), Butchey Weinstein (Winkler) and Wimpy Murgalo (Mace), are faced with various problems throughout the film, as a result of which they have to make difficult decisions. Stanley is the leader of the team; Chico is his wingman, who is more emotional, while Weinstein is the quiet, smart type who struggles with acceptance issues. And Murgalo is Stanley’s shadow, always following orders.
During the shooting of the film, a serious conflict developed between Sylvester Stallone and Richard Gere.
Gere originally played the role of Chico in the film. However, according to Stallone’s recollections, he caused a lot of trouble on set due to his conceited and condescending behaviour. During a fight scene, Gere played with such guts and roughness that he practically punched Stallone. Not long after, on a cold day when they were forced to eat lunch together in a car, Gere ate the oily fried chicken in such a disgusting way that he smeared it on Stallone’s clothes, before the latter finally elbowed Gere in the side and pushed out of the car.
Sylvester Stallone and Richard Gere fought over a princess
In order to complete The Lords of Flatbush, the director then decided to settle things the old-fashioned way – one stays, one goes. Although this “dinner fight” sounds more like a comedy than a serious conflict, even Quentin Tarantino himself told the story in a 2019 post on the Beverly Cinema website.
Whether Gere voluntarily walked off the set or was forced out will likely forever remain a mystery. However, the feud between Stallone and Gere did not end there. According to the music legend, Elton John, at one of the dinner parties he organized, they wanted to get into a fist fight because of Princess Diana! This time it was Stallone who made the dramatic exit, but not before he had a few last sassy words for his rival: “If I’d wanted her, I would’ve taken her!” he said about the princess.
We will never know what the film would have been like with Richard Gere in the lead role. But King committed to the character and gave a memorable performance. Chico wanted to be a womanizer, but ended up falling in love with the one he couldn’t have. We’ll never know if the young and inexperienced Gere could have played this character as memorably…
Source: Ain’t It Cool News, Beverly Cinema
