The Frightened City (1961)
Classic British Noir starring Sean Connery as a low level criminal who becomes embroiled in a dangerous racketeering syndicate formed by the six most ruthless mobsters in London in order to control the city.
A year before he took on a certain role, Connery is all action in this, indeed both his look and fighting style owe quite a bit to a certain British agent. He broods about, smokes and drinks heavily all the while looking cool as a cucumber in sharp suits whilst romancing sexy nightclub singer Yvonne Romain on the side.
Filmed in stark black and white the film is both stylish and tough and hard bitten, there's even a few uses of 'bastard' in the dialogue which was quite rare even in 1961. The film directed by John Lemont, who made the abysmal Konga the very same year, certainly nods towards American classic Noir and even German Krimi films with Herbert Lom in one of the lead roles. Having said that, The Frightened City is a little on the slow side. There's a lot of talk and not an awful lot of violence until the final ten minutes, but on the whole the dialogue is well written and handled nicely by a strong cast.
Whilst The Frightened City isn't classic British Noir it's still well worth owning for any fan of the genre or of British film itself.
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