Plunder Road (1957)

Directed by Hubert Cornfield; produced by Leon Chooluck, Laurence Stewart

Five men stage a precise and successful train-robbery, making off with $10,000,000 in gold. They know that any elation over their achievement would be premature, however, for they have eight hundred miles of public highway to cover to their intended destination, and every policeman and private citizen along that distance will be looking for them. The robbery was the easy part…

Like an old-fashioned murder mystery set in a secluded location, the premise of a caper film is often very much like that of every other. The appeal of the story is usually in the details: how the crime is committed, the scheme involved, the get-away, the dangers faced by the felons. In this, Plunder Road does pretty well, though it has its flaws.

The principal advantages to the film are the characters, the performances and the direction. The criminals are reasonably appealing: they act professionally, intend not to hurt anyone during their crime and want to make clean escapes with no trouble to police or by-standers. Several are hardened crooks, but not murderous. When a murder is committed, the viewer feels more disappointment in the character than loathing for him.

The performances are capable, if not outstanding. Gene Raymond makes a tough boss, though his hard edge is due to the need to get things done properly; he must constantly keep his men focussed. Elisha Cook and Wayne Morris give good support. No actor is out of place in his role. Steven Ritch’s nervous driver is often annoying, though it is in keeping with his character.

The direction is quite good. There are some tense moments as the criminals encounter road blocks set up to capture them, sometimes meeting each other on the route as they drive separately to their destination.

The script lets the movie down, if anything does. There are interesting elements to it. Cook gives a rambling synopsis of what he wants to do with the money he will make from the robbery, while his comrade, Morris, laconically responds. There is a brief glimpse of possibilities in the immediate attraction a waitress has for Raymond, while the latter remains fittingly mysterious as to his background.

But one of the disadvantages is the incredible use - or misuse - of time in the script. The robbers appear to have all that they need to unload heavy boxes of gold ingots from the train. The shipment belongs to the U.S. government; I find it hard to believe that even a few minutes’ delay in arriving at a scheduled station would not result in at least an inquiry from authorities as to the train’s location. Similarly, what the gang does with the gold to ready it for secret transport must surely take longer than the opportunity allowed, especially considering that only a third of the stolen gold is so treated, the plan being for much more to undergo the process.

There is also the inclusion of voice-overs from each character in the opening scene, a technique not repeated elsewhere in the film. I dislike the availability of omniscience to the viewer given at one point then abandoned at others. It makes for an inconsistent point of view.

While Plunder Road could have been better, its low budget and lack of stars certainly don’t make it less entertaining than it is. It is a decent caper flick, if the viewer doesn’t think about it too much.