THE ONE AND ONLY (1978)

 I had seen the clips of Henry Winkler(aka The Fonz) as a bad guy Nazi wrestler before but was never actually able to view this whole film until recently. As someone who grew up in the 70s watching HAPPY DAYS, and worshipping Fonzie and everything he stood for, it was a bit jarring to see him in such a nerdy role as this but I guess that's why they call it acting. Most of the film is a dreaded romantic comedy and it takes a while before we get to any of the wrasslin' bits so be prepared. In addition to being a Nazi, Winkler also portrays a fighting hypnotist character and a Gorgeous George-type of flamboyant gay-stereotype grappler that you can see on the poster. Herve Villechaize is his little manager and we get a couple of real life wrestlers thrown in including Chavo Guerrero Sr. playing an Indian in full headdress and the great Hard Boiled Haggerty. If you can get through the schmaltzy romance stuff  and The Fonz being quite annoying and obnoxious throughout most of the movie it is certainly a 70s-era curiosity that's worth a one time watch.

 

                                              Known simply in Spanish as "I"M UNIQUE":

THE LORDS OF FLATBUSH (1974)

This is a movie I first saw when I was probably about 7 years old. They used to play it on TV quite a bit in the late 70's no doubt due to the fact that it stars "Rocky" Sylvester Stallone and "The Fonz" Henry Winkler. Of course they're not actually playing their more well known characters but when I was 7 I didn't really know any better. To me back then this was like watching an early adventure of two of my childhood heroes teamed-up together in the same gang. It was kind of like seeing Superman and Spider-Man together. That shit was just awesome to my younger self! I also recall being slightly traumatized when Fonzie gets hit by a car. For some reason I remember him dying in this movie. He doesn't, he just ends up with a broken leg but I probably turned the movie off in horror after his accident. Re-watching this movie now I think it's a little too talky and more about relationships than gang rumbles but Stallone does a pretty decent job in one of the lead roles and it's all really well shot. I also couldn't help but compare it to the way better similar movie THE WANDERERS which sort of deals with some of the same themes as this. The other negative thing is a lot of the music in this seems more like 70's versions of 50's songs than anything genuinely from that era. Still it's an interesting look at two big Hollywood stars given a chance to actually act before they became big names and stereotypes of themselves.

This song sums everything up really well!: