So much average

One of my all time favorites.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

It's a dark and stormy night as five men pull off a daring train robbery of 10 million in gold. Led by the stoic Eddie Harris (Gene Raymond) they split the steal in three and head for LA to melt it down. Two of the transports are intercepted but the third reaches it's destination and is in the process of blowing town through an ingenious method (I believe later employed on the first show of Mission Impossible) when the LA Freeway interrupts.Plunder Road may well have been an ideal B in its day with its stripped down (72 minutes) pace and crosscutting between the divided mob. After taking in the better budgeted denser A pic this heist film immediately cut to the chase allowing the movie goer to exhale. Director Hubert Cornfield (Night of the Following Day) does not dally long with personality and character development as he expeditiously leaves them to their thoughts and the fact that they are all in for a huge payday.30s matinée idol Gene Raymond registers as the taciturn ringleader who lightens up once he feels he's in the clear. Chester Morris, Elisha Cook, Steven Ritch and Stafford Repp as societal marginals born to lose adequately deliver with few words. Cinematographer Ernie Haller gives the picture a good look while Irving Gert's music is a heavy handed brass attack that overwhelms in tense moments. Plunder Road does have some pot holes but it remains well paced with relatively benign criminals that has us feeling like the waitress in the diner who hopes in some way that they get away with it.

$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.

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 its 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 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 and naturally some contrivances are to be taken with a pinch of salt, but this is a good and enjoyable viewing experience even though it doesn't push towards the upper echelons of other heist movies in the film noir universe. 7/10

That 10-minute opening is a real grabber. I'm still wondering whether the driving rain was real or not. If so, it must have made filming difficult as heck. The problem with an opening like this is once you've hit the highlight how do you fill the remainder, which could easily pale in comparison. Still, it's no problem for this little gem. The remaining time amounts to a real nail-biter in getting away with the gold now that the gang has stolen it. Driving big rigs cross-country is cat-and-mouse with the cops the whole way, as details of the plan unfold, and we get acquainted with the gang members. Raymond's effective as the disciplined mastermind. I think I counted one smile from him the whole time. Then there's the familiar mug of professional loser Cook Jr. who gets a regular guy role for once. And, of course, there's the underrated Wayne Morris as the dependable Commando, just two years away from an untimely passing.My one gripe is with the tip-offs to the cops. They're flimsy and contrived, especially the police radio in Roly's (Repp) case. Too bad, because the rest of a tight script manages a surprisingly high degree of believability, thanks to screenwriter Steven Ritch who doubles here as race car guy Frankie.I expect director Cornfield was hoping for a break-through film on the order of the previous year's The Killing (1956), which thrust Stanley Kubrick into the front rank. He doesn't get it, but he does get one heckuva good little heist film, and so do we. And, oh yes, I could have told the gang to stay off the LA freeways at rush hour.