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Wonderful character development!

Overrated and overhyped

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

One of the better London-based crime films of the 1950s/1960s to appear on the Talking Pictures channel. It was interesting to see Anthony Quayle as something of an underdog, and I always puzzle about Edward Judd's transformation as an actor. In "The Challenge", he looks a bit seedy, not helped by unflattering baldness, whereas after some 50 years I can still recall his screen presence in some TV series or other - helped by a toupee, a bit of burliness and a smart suit.I have a feeling that, as with so many films, the regional railway stock and the London terminus didn't match. (And even in those days did drivers really leave ignition keys in their cars?) Despite what others have said, I thought that Jayne Mansfield was adequate, though I fast-forwarded through her song.The poster for the film shown here on IMDb titillates misleadingly. I'm not sure who the cavorting lady is - Billy before she went blonde or the stripper whose act we never got to see completely?

"The Challenge" (or if you prefer "It Takes a Thief"), may not be "Rififi" or "The Killing" but this John Gilling directed crime movie isn't nearly as bad as people would have you believe. In fact, it's a consistently fast-moving, surprisingly tough picture with a decent cast that includes Anthony Quale and Carl Mohner as crooks under the thumb of unlikely crime boss Jayne Mansfield. Yes, that's right - Jayne Mansfield, who isn't just miscast here but is perfectly dreadful and was probably the main reason the movie bombed, (was casting her really such a good idea in the first place?). Still, she turns almost every line she utters into a howler and is just one of the reasons the movie is so damned entertaining. Nice black and white photography, too, by Gordon Dines and a good use of locations.

The setup for "It Takes A Thief" really doesn't make a lot of sense--and that is a huge problem. It begins with Jim (Anthony Quayle) falling for Billy (Jayne Mansfield). He doesn't realize that Billy is a cold and calculating sort--and she is setting him up. She convinces him to join in on a heist and he agrees. Now here is the part that makes no sense at all--Jim is responsible for hiding the money and then someone in the gang lets the cops know he was in on the crime and he's sent to prison. Why turn Jim in to the police? Jim would either return the money to the authorities OR he'd sit on it until after he's out of prison--and that could be years. It simply makes little sense. And for some time you aren't sure if Billy did this or perhaps Kristy--the brooding gang member who appears to have an extremely close relationship with Billy.Regardless, several years pass and Jim has now done his time--and the money is still hidden. He has no intention of returning to his life of crime--even though the old gang is pressuring him to do so because they want the loot. When he refuses to cooperate with them, the gang turns up the pressure by kidnapping Jim's son. At the same time, the police are keeping an eye on Jim because they, too, want the money as well. With all this pressure on him, what is he to do? Aside from a main plot idea that makes little sense, "It Takes a Thief" has several other things working against it. The big one is the odd casting of Mansfield considering the film is set in England. Plus, the pairing of the distinguished actor, Anthony Quayle with Jayne Mansfield is just plain weird. Finally, the DVD print is pretty bad--making the viewing experience less than stellar. It's really sad because apart from the weird casting strange plot about Jim being turned it, it's a very good noir sort of film. The film has a lot of tension and the scenes involving the search for the kid late in the film were awfully good.

...so did Mansfield star with another noted Shakespearean actor, Anthony Quayle. The difference being that Mansfield was never the star that Monroe was,and Quayle was just a jobbing actor in films, and the production accorded them was a cheapie. Actually, for the first part of this, with Mansfield hiding beneath a brunette wig, she is not bad, but back to blonde for the last half of the film she resorts to her usual simpering. The picture and sound quality of the CD is so bad, I could not even take my usual pleasure in this sort of film of enjoying the cast of familiar faces. The credits said Percy Herbert was in there somewhere, but I didn't see him.