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.

One of a clutch of vintage British thrillers released by Anchor Bay Entertainment (back when it was still going by that name and enjoying its deserved status as one of the major specialist DVD labels) that also included two superior Stanley Baker efforts – Val Guest's HELL IS A CITY (1959) and Joseph Losey's THE CRIMINAL (1960). That THE FRIGHTENING CITY comes up short when compared to these two movies is perhaps unsurprising in view of the fact that director John Lemont – best-known today (if at all) for the campy monster flick KONGA (1961) – is clearly not the equal of either Guest or Losey at the top of their game. In fact, there is little evidence here of anything as individualistic as Guest's combination of wit and grit or Losey's extraordinary expressionist pyrotechnics and, ultimately, the film rises or falls on the strength of its actors. A pre-Bond Sean Connery may be third billed but he commendably carries the film on his shoulders for much of its running time; smooth-talking shady lawyer Herbert Lom is also quite good but his screen time is much less than his top billing might suggest; lock-jawed copper John Gregson adequately stands up to both men, pitting them one against the other when Connery's friend (a reluctant 'director' in Lom's crime syndicate) is shot in cold blood by Lom's sleazy partner (a scene-stealing turn from Alfred Marks). Of course, a gangster is only as good as his moll and Lom's is ambitious French singer Yvonne Romain (actually, she's half-Maltese!) who soon gets under Connery's skin (or should I say bed sheets) but does not think twice of betraying his whereabouts to the police when they threaten her with deportation! Also featured in the cast are Kenneth Griffith (as Connery's crippled ex-partner from his cat burglar days) and Italian restaurateur George Pastell (who soon finds out that 'accidents will happen' when one does not pay his dues in protection money).

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....