The Challenge (1961)

That was an excellent one.

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Top thrills from writer/director John Gilling come to us courtesy of this black and white British crime thriller, which features a nicely-tuned leading performance from character actor Anthony Quayle, a man who never disappoints with his mannered and focused acting style. Quayle plays a mild-mannered family man who gets involved with an unlikely femme fatale and a gang of robbers and is involved in a violent heist. He escapes with the loot and manages to bury it, but somebody calls the police and he's sent off to jail for eight years.The story picks up on his release, where he finds the gang are desperate to lay their hands on the loot and will do anything to facilitate that end. The story goes from there. What's immediately apparent is that THE CHALLENGE is a very good film of its type, certainly much better than the earlier efforts directed by Gilling which suffered from tiny budgets. THE CHALLENGE has more money put into it and it shows, with plentiful action and lots of different locations, both indoor and out.Unfortunately it appears that a number of reviewers have condemned this film as a cheap piece of derivative trash. They appear to have watched the movie as it contains an early role for American starlet Jayne Mansfield, but in their condemnation they don't have anything to compare the film with. You can't contrast this type of movie with the big budget American film noir flicks or even French classics like RIFIFI; of course it's going to look inferior, but trust me, THE CHALLENGE is a strong entry in its genre.It's fair to say that Mansfield is pretty unconvincing as the femme fatale/gangster's moll in this film, although as ever her figure is quite arresting. The silly wig she wears for part of the running time is quite distracting. Still, the supporting cast are fine: Carl Mohner is frightening as the ruthless thug; Dermot Walsh gets to be on the right side of the law for once; Percy Herbert has a wonderful little turn as a boozy worker; Barbara Mullen is memorable as the stressed-out mother in law; and Edward Judd makes his impact as the two-fisted cop. THE CHALLENGE fills its running time with many suspenseful moments, a taut premise (particularly in the second half), fine action, and great twists. I really liked it.

"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.

...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.

The only good thing about this film is the performance of Anthony Quayle. He gives his character some depth and humanity. No wonder he was soon off to great films such as Laurence of Arabia. If you want a truly great performance by this actor watch Anne of the Thousand Days. His role in that film earned him an Academy Award nomination. The good thing about THIS film is that the plot was a great idea and the flow was pretty quick and kept you interested. What was awful was the quality of the picture and the sound. The actors were blurry and the voices did not match the lip movements. Why was so much wasted on what could have been a really decent movie? Perhaps age and a lack of good DVD quality is the problem? The movie will only be bearable to Anthony Quayle fans, Jayne Mansfield fans, or crime drama fans.