Many people believe that Sean Connery made his movie debut in a 1958 film entitled Another Time, Another Place, the poster of which prominently displayed the words "Introducing Sean Connery". In truth Connery had already done supporting acting in a handful of small films, one of which was Action Of The Tiger. The actual star of Action Of The Tiger is Van Johnson, sorely miscast as a tough-talking but soft-at-the-centre pirate smuggling political prisoners out of post-war Albania. There are rumours that the leading female, Martine Carol, suggested on several occasions during the shoot that Connery himself would have been better in the lead role – it's certainly an interesting notion, and the more one cringes at the embarrassing efforts of Johnson the more one wishes someone had listened to her advice! Shortly after World War Two, blonde bombshell Tracy (Martine Carol) approaches a pirate/mercenary/adventurer named Carson (Van Johnson) with a dangerous assignment. Her brother is trapped behind the Iron Curtain in Albania, and she is keen to get him out while he is still alive. Carson initially hates the job but for all his hard words and stubborn protests, his weakness for beautiful women and ready money gets the better of him. After numerous close calls, Carson and Tracy find the endangered brother but learn that he is now blind. They strike out across rugged Albanian wilderness in the direction of the Greek border, but their quest is made doubly difficult when they are persuaded to take a bunch of kids with them. Seems the kids' parents are scared that their youngsters will face a future of poverty, torture and persecution under the Communist rule and want Carson to smuggle them to safety. The road to the border is fraught with danger, so much so that Carson has to rely on the aid of a passionate freedom fighter named Trifon (Herbert Lom) to negotiate the final few miles.The film is poorly scripted by Robert Carson, working from a forgotten novel by James Wellard. The action progresses predictably and in uninvolving fashion from one scene to the next, and by the climax one can barely remember what the film was about. Give it a fortnight and you might have forgotten altogether that you've ever seen the film! Johnson, as noted, is not cut out for this kind of tough-guy action role, while Carol ludicrously maintains perfect hair, perfect lipstick and an overall air of glamour, even whilst fleeing from Communist pursuers in the middle of remote Albania! The only actor who successfully crafts a lively and enjoyable characterisation is Lom as the resistance fighter, but he arrives too late in the story and has too small a role to save the film. It is directed, strangely enough, by Terence Young (who would go on to make three of the first four Bond films with Connery), but in this one Young's direction lacks a sense of pace and purpose. Apart from Lom's forlorn efforts, the only other praiseworthy aspect of the film is Desmond Dickinson's pleasant photography which captures the barren landscapes (Spain standing in for Albania) rather spectacularly.

If for nothing else, this film is memorable for a scene in which the heroine is chased around the hero's boat by the mate, Mike, played by Sean Connery, as obvious prelude to rape, while said hero, a particularly grubby-looking Van Johnson (who had seen better days in Santa Fe Trail and The Strange Love of Martha Ivers) looks on indifferently. Somehow or other she gets out of this, but the idea that having escaped the clutches of Connery she would subsequently fall hard for Van Johnson give cinema one of it great "huh?" moments. Otherwise, the movie lacks much interest or originality despite the Albanian background which certainly could have been better exploited, as Albania was known during its Communist era as the last surviving medieval society in Europe, and attracted a goodly share of antiquarian tourists.

Action of the Tiger is a very ordinary anti-Communist film that benefits from a location shoot in Greece (filling in for nearby Albania). The woefully miscast Van Johnson plays Carson, an amoral American smuggler who agrees to help blonde bombshell Martine Carol rescue her brother from the bondage of Enver Hoxha and company. Herbert Lom and Sean Connery provide assistance for Johnson, whose part really should have gone to someone with a little more gravitas, perhaps Sterling Hayden or Richard Widmark. Instead, our lead tries to prove his masculinity by wearing sweaters that are much too tight, a less than pretty sight. Desmond Dickinson's cinematography is uniformly good, especially in exterior setups, but the script is undercooked and ultimately unbelievable, as our heroes end up rescuing a motley assortment of Greek children and outwitting those dumb commies. Action of the Tiger is also of minor interest for Connery fans, as the Scots actor would reunite with director Terence Young for a little film called Dr. No five years later.

This movie by Terence Young is the typical adventure-movie of the fifties. The action in Albania is well described with the Albanian resistance against communism and the double-spy colonel Stendho. The battles - horses against jeeps - are realistic and the Albanian family-life and the Countess Valona is also realistic with the remembrance of the past (Italians, Geeks). Martine Carol is wonderful and she does everything to save the children and her brother. Captain Carson is the typical American smuggler of the Mediterranean Sea and he falls in love with Tracy Malvoisie (Carol). Good script, good family-movie.