A small time thief is recruited by a mobster to help with the racketeering. He doesn't like the job, but with the mob on his back, a femme fatale in his bed and a sick friend to care for, he will have to keep all his wits about him.
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People are voting emotionally.
best movie i've ever seen.
Absolutely the worst movie.
It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.
Surprisingly there is only one review for this film from the UK.I can say that I knew Soho well at the time this film was made when the protection rackets were controlled by the Krays and they really made the characters in this film seem like choirboys.Unlike Connery in the climax,witnesses were either to terrified to talk or were nobbled.I happened to be at the Old Bailey and was in court when the judge found the Krays not guilty.It was only their desire to match each other for killings that finally got them put behind bars.It is interesting to note that this film only got an "A" certificate so obviously the censor did not believe that it was that tough a film.Connery was third billed but clearly the star of the film.Alfred Marks ,one of my favourites,plays against type as a slimy crime boss who has his ambitions spiked in a painful way.A scene I have always remembered.This film was indicative of the direction in which the film industry was headed.
'The Frightened City' stars both Sean Connery and Herbert Lom just before their iconic appearances in the Bond & Pink Panther series respectively (although Lom already had a substantial film career before The Pink Panther series).But it wasn't the first time they appeared together, having appeared in 1957's 'Hell Drivers'. And it's this comparison that weakens TFC as while both films are similarly hard-nosed, rough-edged action films, HD is superior more interesting characters, compelling drama and more vivid action scenes.That isn't to say TFC is a bad film - it's solidly entertaining with a good atmosphere and Connery displaying the charisma that was about to make him a major star (plus a nicely underplayed turn from Lom as the villain). But it's too conventional in its plotting and lacking great action scenes to be up to HD's level.Still, TFC is a decent film and worth a look
Sean Connery plays Paddy Damion, a thug in the West End of London that is lured into a protection racket scheme. The story takes place in a rundown section of the city, where the citizens and business owners are held in the tight grip of extortionists. Damion goes to work for a mobster(Alfred Marks)in order to support his fellow burglar(Kenneth Griffith), who was injured during a robbery. There's plenty of work to go around as six major "protection" rings join together for combined success. Damion has a change of heart and helps Scotland Yard Inspector Sayers(John Gregson)bring down sinister crime boss Waldo Zhernikov(Herbert Lom).John Lemont directs this crime drama for Darryl Zanuck. The movie is good and Connery is better. Also in the cast: Yvonne Romain, Olive McFarland, David Davies and Patrick Holt.
No matter what else may be said of this film it is, if not the only, certainly one of the earliest British films to feature a tiki bar. Also, the song "What a Marvelous Lie You Told Me" is one of the more unusual tunes every recorded in a movie. The dancing that goes with it is simply marvelous. Herbert Lom is perfect and Connery is all young and full of rage. A real gem of 60s British cinema.... The pity is that more is not made of the club that Lom runs and which has some very special "Indian" doormen despite its Oceanic interior. Leaving aside the other comments made about the film's violence, the action, especially the scene in which Connery is set up, is very typical of the period....