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 Critical reception TV Guide wrote, "most of the actors, with the exception of Quayle, are pretty stiff, and the story is hardly inspired." Sky Movies noted, "filled with such familiar leading men of British 'B' features as Peter Reynolds, Edward Judd, Dermot Walsh and Patrick Holt. Some of the best moments, though, are provided by Hollywood's Jayne Mansfield as the criminal mastermind, demure in black wig and horn-rimmed glasses as she does her 'firm's' books by day, but slinking around in sequins by night with a smile and a song." External links Review of Renown Pictures DVD release References 1960 films British neo-noir films 1960 crime films Films directed by John Gilling British crime films 1960s English-language films 1960s British films