The Frightened City *** (1961, Herbert Lom, Sean Connery, John Gregson, Alfred Marks, Yvonne Romain, Patrick Holt, Kenneth Griffith) – Classic Movie Review 8052

The frightened city is London, where unexpectedly they are behaving just like in Chicago, as mobsters join a protection syndicate then fall out when gang boss Harry Foulcher (Alfred Marks) establishes a mafia of his own.

Director John Lemont’s robust and taut 1962 low-budget black and white crime thriller The Frightened City is a fair achievement for British cinema, then going through its notable short-lived realist phase.

The Frightened City is well performed all round, with Herbert Lom on form as the racketeer/ mobster Waldo Zhernikov, who gets London’s gangs together, plus a just pre-Bond Sean Connery as Paddy Damion, a small-time Irish cook despatched by Zhernikov (Lom) to whack Foulcher (Marks).

John Gregson is solid in his typecast role as Detective Inspector Sayers, and ditto Patrick Holt as Superintendent Carter, while Yvonne Romain draws the short straw in a boys’ movie as femme fatale Anya. Song and score composer Norrie Paramor appears at the piano. Bunny Lewis wrote the song lyrics. Helen Shapiro sings Marvellous Lie but their song I Laughed at Love is the standout. Paramor’s instrumental number of The Shadows’ famous title music The Frightened City is performed over opening titles by the Studio Orchestra.

The Frightened City is directed by John Lemont, runs 99 minutes, is produced by John Lemont and Leigh Vance. The screenplay is by Leigh Vance, from an original story by John Lemont and Leigh Vance. It is shot in black and white by Desmond Dickinson.

John Lemont (1914–2004) was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and made a handful of films – just five. This was his last movie.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8052

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