The Frightened City

Criminal accountant Waldo Zhernikov is involved in protection racketeering and plans to organise the six gangs that operate the rackets into a single organisation, under the control of crook Harry Foulcher. Burglar Paddy Damion is lured into the scheme by Foulcher as a money collector. When Alf Peters, one of the gang bosses, quarrels with Foulcher and walks out of the scheme, Foulcher murders him. Foulcher himself is killed by Damion, angry at Peters' death.

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• Herbert Lom as Waldo Zhernikov
• John Gregson as Detective Inspector Sayers
• Sean Connery as Paddy Damion
• Alfred Marks as Harry Foulcher
• Yvonne Romain as Anya Bergodin
• Olive McFarland as Sadie
• Frederick Piper as Sergeant Bob Ogle
• John Stone as Hood
• David Davies as Alf Peters
• Tom Bowman as Tanky Thomas
• Robert Cawdron as Nero
• George Pastell as Sanchetti
• Patrick Holt as Superintendent Dave Carter
• Martin Wyldeck as security officer
• Kenneth Griffith as Wally Smith
• Bruce Seton as Assistant Commissioner

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Filming started 5 December 1960.{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|url=https://archive.org/details/variety221-1961-01/page/n383/mode/1up?|title=Hollywood Production Pulse|date=18 January 1961|page=26}} It was one of several crime films made by Anglo-Amalgamated.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-moguls-nat-cohen-part-two-1957-1962/?fbclid=IwY2xjawHzZE1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHYZjQq0yB4v7EhpUZd08qyczdcLmeGKA1HinJz8mKCW7gEGK8iZz6_-Xew_aem_dXFfClBg94ZzE4UQNGypyQ|date=16 January 2025|access-date=16 January 2015|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|magazine=Filmink|title=Forgotten British moguls: Nat Cohen – Part Two (1957-1962)}}

The Shadows had a hit single, no. 3 on the British charts in May 1961, with their versio of the theme song "The Frightened City" (Norrie Paramor).Brown, Tony, Jon Kutner & Neil Warwick, The Complete Book of the British Charts: Singles and Albums, Omnibus Press, London, 2002 p. 894 It was subsequently covered by Peter Frampton in the 1996 collection Twang!: A Tribute to Hank Marvin & the Shadows.{{cite web |title=Twang!: A Tribute to Hank Marvin & the Shadows - Various Artists - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/twang!-a-tribute-to-hank-marvin-the-shadows-mw0000440966 |website=AllMusic}}

The London premiere of “The Frightened City” took place at the Odeon Marble Arch on 9 August 1961.

In a contemporary review, The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "A holding thriller, with a fairly plausible London background, racy direction, occasional laconic humour, and skilful though! familiar performances from John Gregson – doggedly and moodily honest – and Herbert Lom, suavely villainous."{{Cite journal |date=1 January 1961 |title=The Frightened City |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1305828631/35EF0A7C1484F45PQ/1 |journal=The Monthly Film Bulletin |volume=28 |issue=324 |pages=143 |via=ProQuest}}

Variety described it as "a conventional but brisk gangster yarn," concluding that "Herbert Lom plays the brains of the crooked organization with urbane villainy and equally reliable John Gregson makes a solid, confident job of the dedicated cop. Alfred Marks is cast offbeat as Lom’s gangster lieutenant. Marks gives a rich, oily, sinister and yet often amusing portrayal of an ambitious thug who is prepared to turn killer to get his own way. Comparative newcomer, rugged Sean Connery makes a distinct impression as an Irish crook, with an eye for the ladies. Connery combines toughness, charm and Irish blarney."{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/1960/film/reviews/the-frightened-city-1200419880/|title=The Frightened City|author=Variety Staff|date=1 January 1961|publisher=}}

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "Limping along years after Hollywood's postwar exterior location thrillers such as The Naked City, this British attempt at the genre just about manages to hold the interest. The story is about London gangsters falling out over a protection racket, and features a young Sean Connery and a pre-Pink Panther Herbert Lom at his most seedily sinister."{{Cite book |title=Radio Times Guide to Films |publisher=Immediate Media Company |year=2017 |isbn=9780992936440 |edition=18th |location=London |pages=346}}

According to a review on the AllMovie website: "The film itself is only of moderate interest, a gangster thriller that's engaging but not special; but the cast makes it worth watching."{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-frightened-city-v92384/review|title=The Frightened City (1961) - John Lemont - Review - AllMovie|website=AllMovie}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|id=0054898}}
• {{rotten-tomatoes|the_frightened_city}}

{{John Lemont}}

{{The Shadows}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frightened City, The}}

Category:1961 films

Category:1961 crime drama films

Category:British crime drama films

Category:British gangster films

Category:Films directed by John Lemont

Category:Films set in London

Category:British neo-noir films

Category:1960s English-language films

Category:1960s British films

Category:English-language crime drama films