BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Taha Avalos The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Candida It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

bsmith5552 "Plunder Road" is about a train heist of $10 million in gold bullion. In a well planned robbery, led by Eddie Harris (Gene Raymond) along with Frankie Chardo (Steven Rich), Munson (Wayne Morris), Skeets (Elisha Cook Jr.) and Roly Adams (Stafford Repp), the gang pulls off "the biggest robbery in U.S. history" in the teeming rain, using a large van and a small crane truck to obtain and transport the loot.The gang hides the trucks used in the robbery and loads the gold onto three separate trucks carrying furniture, coffee and a chemical liquid. They plan to go to Los Angeles leaving at staggered times. Roly is the first to leave followed by Munson and Skeets and finally Eddie and Frankie.Roly is stopped by the police and is shot trying to escape. Munson and Skeets stop for gas where Muson murders the gas station attendant who recognized them as part of the heist team. They are later arrested at a truck weigh scales station when the excess weight of their vehicle is discovered.Eddie and Frankie make it through various roadblocks to L.A. where Eddie's girl friend Fran Werner (Jeanne Cooper) is waiting. They melt down the gold and...............................................There's a couple of holes in the story (written by Rich) likely due to budget considerations. For example there is no information provided as to how Eddie Harris knew about the shipment or how he formed his gang and planned the robbery in the intricate detail necessary. The explosive they are carrying is not identified but is assumed to be nitro-glycerin. Also, since the shipment was obviously headed to or from Fort Knox, where was the military presence?Gene Raymond had been a major star in the 30s appearing opposite many of the leading ladies of the day. He was married to Jeannette MacDonald for 28 years and had appeared in a limited number of films since then. Wayne Morris was a highly decorated WWII hero whose career had declined. He made a comeback in 1957 with his role in "Paths of Glory" but died in 1959 before he could get his career going again. Stafford Repp is best remembered for his role as the Police Chief in the "Batman" TV series. Elisha Cook appeared in dozens of similar roles as the tough little guy such as his Wilmer in "The Maltese Falcon"

bensonmum2 $10 million in gold is being shipped by rail to San Francisco from Salt Lake City. Five men are determined to see that the gold doesn't make it. The men successfully pull-off a daring nighttime robbery and snatch the $10 million. Their plan includes loading the gold into three different trucks. At regular intervals, they set off for the coast where they intend to rendezvous and split their loot. Will they make it? (This is a film noir – you know things are bound to go horribly wrong.)Plunder Road is a nice little low-budget noir/crime/drama film. While I enjoyed every second of the movie, the highlight for me has to be the robbery that takes up at least the first 15 minutes of the film's 72 minute runtime. Similar to Rififi, the robbery is carried out almost entirely in silence. The plan is well thought out and executed. The coordination between the five guys makes for a great watch. Director Hubert Cornfield expertly filmed this section of the movie. He wisely included almost every detail – from the masks to the gassing of the guards to the handling of the explosives. Some of the camera angles Cornfield chose helped to increase the excitement of the whole thing. I also think that filming the heist in pouring rain was a wise decision. The rain added even more suspense and atmosphere. While I'm not overly familiar with most of the cast (Elisha Cook, Jr, being the exception), they all give nice performances. I think I was most impressed with Stafford Repp as Roly Adams, but that may only be because he's familiar to me having played Chief O'Hara on Batman in the 60s. Plunder Road's ending is appropriately bleak. As with most good film noir, none of the characters comes out unscathed.

zardoz-13 Director Hubert Cornfield's heist caper "Plunder Road" was made when Hollywood prohibited criminals from getting away with their criminal endeavors. Five men, Eddie Harris (Gene Raymond of "Red Dust"), Commando Munson (Wayne Morris of "Paths of Glory"), Skeets Jonas (Elisha Cook Jr., of "The Maltese Falcon"), Roly Adams (Stafford Repp of ABC-TV's "Batman") and Frankie Chardo (Steven Ritch of "Seminole Uprising"), stage a daring night time robbery of a train transporting gold bullion to San Francisco. The first ten minutes or so concern the actual hold-up itself with the hoodlums gassing the guards and slugging the train engineer unconscious. The next forty-five minutes depicts the road trip that the robbers take in three separate vehicles. Eddie and Frankie cruise along in a tanker truck. Commando and Skeets drive a rental truck with coffee used to conceal their load of the bullion, while Roly drives a truck carrying furniture. Cornfield has pared this crime caper down to its absolute essentials. Roly is caught first when he doesn't make it through a roadblock because he leaves his police band radio turned on. He makes a futile effort to get away, but the police shoot him in the back. Eddie and Frankie roll up not long afterward and spot the authorities taking Roly's body away in an ambulance. Meanwhile, Commando and Skeets pull up to fill up at a gas station. Commando gets into a conversation with the old-timer who is filling up the truck. The old-timer inquires about his oil. When Commando raises the hood, his automatic pistol falls out and he has to murder the attendant. Finally, Eddie and Frankie make it to Los Angeles without incident and smelt their gold bullion down at a warehouse. Pollution officials interrupt Eddie and company and write them a citation. By this time, Eddie's girlfriend Fran Werner (Jeanne Cooper of "The Intruder") begs him to call things off, but Eddie complains that they have gone through too much to back out now. Our protagonists melt the gold down into hubcaps and other body parts for a Cadillac and cruise onto the freeway when disaster strikes. As Frankie is tooling along the freeway, they pass an accident, and a woman driver behind them spends too much time rubbernecking at a crashed car and rear-ends our protagonists. Naturally, the uniformed cops appear to help untangle the bumpers when they notice that Eddie's car has a gold bumper.There isn't much room for characterization in this taut drama. Similarly, there isn't much sentiment either. Cornfield generates suspense and tension from the moment that the thieves pack up the bullion and head cross-country to Los Angeles. Naturally, scenarist Steven Ritch, working from a story by Jack Charney and he, has to dream up ways for the thieves to blunder. If only Roly had kept his police radio turned off. If only Commando has kept a close watch on his automatic pistol! Why did Eddie have to melt the gold into a rear bumper? Couldn't he have melted the bullion into other car parts? Remember, back in the 1950s, crime didn't pay, so our protagonists are simply living on borrowed time. Nevertheless, "Plunder Road" is qualifies as a suspenseful, white-knuckled exercise in crime.

potfilms Enjoyable B movie, nicely shot in black and white and "Regalscope".Wonder if the writers had seen the 1951 British comedy THE LAVENDER HILL MOB which had a similar solution for smuggling gold bullion as the last car in this? It is always a little dispiriting to know in advance with crime thrillers in this Production Code Enforcement era, that no matter how clever the crooks or plotting, they won't get away with it, and there will be a shift in sympathy away from the criminals at some point (the gratuitous murder of the garage owner.) Hubert Cornfield went on th o make some more interesting movies including PRESSURE POINT and NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY with Marlon Brando.