The Challenge

The Challenge, released as It Takes a Thief in the United States, is a 1960 British neo noir crime film directed by John Gilling and starring Jayne Mansfield and Anthony Quayle. The film was shot in England from 12 October to around December 1959. Mansfield flew back to America on the 16th, after she finished filming. Plot Mansfield plays Billy, the ruthless gang leader who persuades Maxton to take part in a big robbery. Maxton is shopped and convicted of robbery. Maxton serves his time, returns home to his son. The gang want the money which he buried but Maxton wants nothing more to do with it or them. The gang then kidnap Maxton's son and demand the money as ransom. There follows a race against time to save Maxton's son. At the end of the film, a policeman tells Maxton that the stolen money had been found three years previously. Cast Jayne Mansfield ... Billy Anthony Quayle ... Jim Carl Möhner ... Kristy Peter Reynolds ... Buddy Barbara Mullen ... Ma Piper Robert Brown ... Bob Crowther Dermot Walsh ... Detective Sergeant Willis Patrick Holt ... Max Edward Judd ... Detective Sergeant Gittens John Bennett ... Spider Lorraine Clewes ... Mrs. Rick Percy Herbert ... Shop Steward John Stratton ... Rick Liane Marelli ... Striptease Artiste Bill McGuffie ... Nightclub Pianist Peter Pike ... Joey