CrimeDrama

Plunder Road

- Crime of the century!

A spectacular heist starts to unravel as the crooks take it on the lam.

Release Date : 1957-12-05

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Regal Films

Production Country : United States of America

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Eddie Harris

Original Name : Gene Raymond

Gender : Male

Character Name : Fran Werner

Original Name : Jeanne Cooper

Gender : Female

Character Name : Commando Munson

Original Name : Wayne Morris

Gender : Male

Character Name : Skeets Jonas

Original Name : Elisha Cook Jr.

Gender : Male

Character Name : Roly Adams

Original Name : Stafford Repp

Gender : Male

Character Name : Frankie Chardo

Original Name : Steven Ritch

Gender : Male

Character Name : Gas station attendant

Original Name : Harry Tyler

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Helene Heigh

Gender : Female

Character Name :

Original Name : Charles J. Conrad

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Paul Harber

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Don Garrett

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Michael Fox

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Richard Newton

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Jim Canino

Gender : Male

Character Name : Guard No. 1 / Narrator

Original Name : Douglas Bank

Gender : Male

Character Name : Hazel

Original Name : Naura Hayden

Gender : Female

Reviews

John Chard

@John Chard

2024-05-16

In the most daring train robbery of all time... Plunder Road is directed by Hubert Cornfield and written by Steven Ritch and Jack Charney. It stars Gene Raymond, Jeanne Cooper, Wayne Morris, Elisha Cook Jr. and Stafford Repp. Music is by Irving Gertz and cinematography by Ernest Haller. After pulling off a daring train hold-up, a gang of thieves split up and hit the roads to meet up in Los Angeles in readiness to share their gold bullion spoils... A poverty row heist noir late in the classic cycle, Plunder Road gets in and does the job without fuss and filler and with no little style. Running at just 72 minutes in length, the first portion of film is devoted to the intricate robbery that is set at night in the sheeting rain (15 minutes worth) and with barely a word spoken. It's meticulous planning, and thus this appears to be one highly tuned and professional gang of thieves. The rest of the film follows the gang, now travelling in three different vehicles, heading straight to noirville as their inadequacies and paranoia's come to the fore and noir's old faithful friend the vagaries of fate shows it's smirking face. Cornfield and Haller (Mildred Pierce/The Verdict) atmospherically photograph the picture, using the Scope format to emphasise the impending implosion of the characters' plans as they move through the various locales and situations. It's solidly performed by the cast, with old noir hand Cook Junior doing what he does best, and Cornfield manages to eek out much suspense from what essentially is a simple story. The ending is all a bit too quick, some contrivances are to be taken with a pinch of salt, while Gertz's score is very intrusive for the whole 15 minutes heist sequence. However, this is a good and enjoyable film noir experience, even though it doesn't quite push towards the upper echelons of other heist movies in the film noir universe. 7/10