alexanderdavies-99382 "The Frightened City" is a good yarn with some reasonable dialogue and a good pace. The production values aren't exactly brilliant as the sets look very cheap and almost non descript. The music is good. The title song is the same one that The Shadows recorded at about the time of this film's release. Although Sean Connery is billed third in general cast, he is the one who is central to the plot. Herbert Lom and John Gregson set up the proceedings nicely but they take a back seat for most of the film. The latter actor was great at playing police officers and John Gregson does well here. Connery is recruited as part of a masterplan to unite all the London criminal gangs as one whole. He soon finds himself on the war path after a close friend is badly injured and another is murdered in cold blood. The organisation are responsible for the latter and the future 007 is shaken but not stirred. The climax is a good one and worth waiting for.

Leofwine_draca THE FRIGHTENED CITY is one of the films that Sean Connery made in the year before he found fame and success as James Bond in 1962's DR. NO. This one's a crime epic with a much more complex plot than is usual for the British B-picture genre: it involves rival gangsters setting up extensive criminal operations and subsequently falling out and gunning for each other over turf and business.Connery is the young tough brought in to restore order and he brings plenty of warmth and charisma to what is otherwise a pretty tough role. The supporting cast is very good and well worth tuning in for. Herbert Lom isn't in it too much unfortunately but Alfred Marks, who I've only previously seen in comic fare like DESERT MICE, is fine as a really hateful character. John Gregson slips into the well-worn shoes of the detective with ease. Yvonne Romain (THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF) is an arresting femme fatale. Patrick Holt plays another cop and George Pastell a put-upon Italian who is the subject of one or two racist gags. Kenneth Griffith bags the most sympathetic part as the crippled friend. Marianne Stone, Bruce Seton, and even Stephen Lewis (Blakey from ON THE BUSES!) appear in bit parts. There isn't a wealth of action in THE FRIGHTENED CITY, but the plot feels fresh, involved, and fast-moving, and the ending is particularly strong.

zardoz-13 Even if Sean Connery had never been cast as James Bond, the rugged, handsome Scots man would have still carved out an enviable cinematic career for himself. He plays a low-ranking criminal in writer-director John Lemont's grimy but atmospheric crime thriller "The Frightened City" and his "Hell Drivers'" co-star Herbert Lom along for the ride, too, as the mastermind behind an insurance racket. Watching Connery walk through this formulaic film noir is comparable to watching a tiger pacing restlessly about the confines of a cage far too small for him. The lean, mean Connery exudes charisma, and you can see that he was destined for bigger and better things. Aside from "Konga," "The Frightened City" is about as big as Lemont would ever get. Paddy Damion (Sean Connery of "Goldfinger") is a small time hood who is loyal to his close friend and cat burglar, Wally (Kenneth Griffiths of "The Lion In Winter"), who broke his legs on a job gone bad. An urbane but unprincipled accountant, Waldo Zhernikov (Herbert Lom of "The Pink Panther"), joins forces with a ruthless gangster without a qualm, Harry Foulcher (Alfred Marks of "Valentino"), to organize a syndicate consisting of several rival crime bosses to operate a protection ring in London. They search for an able-bodied lieutenant to manage the collections for their mob and settle on Paddy because he uses his head and doesn't indulge in violence. Initially, Paddy wants nothing to do with them. When his partner in crime cannot resume his career as a cat burglar, Paddy concedes and takes Harry up on his offer. This move represents Paddy's ascension into the big time in the British underworld. Predictably, all of this swells his head. He decides to push his long-time girlfriend Sadie (Olive McFarland) out of the way in favor of a delectable French-Algerian song-bird Anya Bergodin (Yvonne Romain of "Double Trouble"), who happens to be in cahoots with the slippery Zhernikov. Anya has been looking for a way to break into the nightclub scene and Zhernikov accommodates her. Naturally, Sadie isn't happy with Paddy's treachery, but soon things get out of hand. Later, one of the crime bosses, Alf Peters (David Davies of "The Heroes of the Telemark"), objects when Zhernikov wants to be the screws to a building contractor. Peters argues that the building contractor will bring in the police, so Zhernikov and Harry decide to eliminate him. They get Paddy to set up a meeting and Harry guns down Alf. Eventually, after the police pull Paddy in for questioning, our hero decides to turn against Zhernikov and Harry because they kill Wally. In fact, Wally tells Paddy after the latter winds up in jail for not collaborating with the cops to sort out the two of them. Meantime, a hard nosed Scotland Yard detective, Inspector Sayers (John Gregson of "Night of the Generals"), who doesn't mind breaking the rules, sets out to crack Paddy and round up the hoods behind the protection racket. Paddy breaks out of jail after Sayers puts him behind bars and goes after Zhernikov. Sayers picks up Sadie, and they follow Paddy to Zhernikov's apartment where the grand finale takes place.Despite its strong cast, "The Frightened City" isn't very frightening.

bkoganbing The Frightened City is one of several films where Sean Connery is getting more and more noticed, leading to the stardom he would obtain the following year as James Bond. Though he's third billed in The Frightened City, it's his performance you'll remember.Herbert Lom, a seemingly respectable businessman, is asked to launder some money by Alfred Marks one of London's top crime bosses. It occurs to Lom he's in unique position to make some really good money off all the crime bosses of London if they can be organized. Using Marks as a front, Lom does just that and the two of them hire Connery to be their chief enforcer in their protection racket.It all works out really well when the hoods are muscling small businessmen for protection, but when they start going after bigger targets David Davies becomes squeamish and Lom and Marks decide he's to be eliminated. They use Connery to set him up and when Connery realizes he's unwittingly helped do in a friend he becomes a man with a mission. It's never good to have Sean Connery with a mission after you.I think you can figure out the rest of the film. The Frightened City is a plot done many times over in American noir films which cycle had ended about five years earlier in America. This one gives you a nice glimpse of the seamier side of London. It was interesting by the way to hear the objections to going after big targets who might have influence with members of Parliament and the Home Office. Crooks are the same all over the world, pick on those you think can't fight back.John Gregson is the Scotland Yard inspector who heads what we would call the organized crime unit there. He represents the good guys, but it's the bad ones that make The Frightened City an interesting film.