Plunder Road ***½ (1957, Gene Raymond, Jeanne Cooper, Wayne Morris, Elisha Cook Jr, Stafford Repp, Steven Ritch, Nora Hayden, Don Garrett, Jim Canino) – Classic Movie Review 13,981

Gene Raymond, Jeanne Cooper, Wayne Morris and Elisha Cook Jr star in the thoroughly fine 1957 American B-movie noir crime film Plunder Road.

The 1957 American crime film noir Plunder Road is directed by Hubert Cornfield and stars Gene Raymond, Jeanne Cooper, Wayne Morris, Elisha Cook Jr. Stafford Repp, Steven Ritch, Nora Hayden, Don Garrett, and Jim Canino.

On a dark night of pelting rain, five men pull off a daring, brilliantly planned train robbery in Utah and get away with a $10 million, nine-ton gold shipment from a San Francisco-bound US mint train. Dividing the massive haul of gold into concealed loads in three separate trucks, they split up into three teams to throw the police off their tracks, and set out for Los Angeles and make a would-be inconspicuous escape across country to what they hope will be a perfect getaway, planning to meet a beautiful accomplice and flee the country with his share of the gold.

The casting is ideal and the acting is good. Gene Raymond is suitably sweaty and creepy as the meticulous criminal mastermind Eddie Harris, giving a masterclass portrait of untrustworthiness, and Wayne Morris and Elisha Cook Jr have room to give their shifty, nervy acts a good workout as Commando Munson and Skeets Jonas. Jeanne Cooper makes a feisty last-minute impression in a belated appearance as Eddie Harris’s beautiful accomplice Fran Werner. Steven Ritch, who writes the screenplay and story (with Jack Charney), gives himself a lot of fussy stuff to do as Frankie Chardo, Eddie Harris’s getaway partner. Stafford Repp as the dim, ultra-nervy fifth gang member Roly Adams, escaping solo.

Best of all, the night-time train robbery in pelting rain is impressively achieved, extended, exciting and engrossing, nearly 20 minutes of it, extremely detailed and convincing, and largely without dialogue. The other big plus is Ernest Haller’s black and white widescreen (Regalscope) photography, a total noir treat, letting his imagination run wild and free.

It’s a pity that the story becomes hardly credible, with gang members doing silly things to get easily caught, but nevertheless it’s easy to go with the flow and enjoy the movie. There’s a lot of intricate detail and hard work that tries to cover the credibility gap, with considerable success. Infuriatingly, it’s from the era where crime doesn’t pay and the villains can’t get away with robbery, violence and murder. Or can they? The snappy dialogue is generally more convincing than the crime and getaway story. Irving Gertz’s score pounds away like there’s no tomorrow, with the music belting away during the very neat opening credits. You could say it is intrusive, or you can just sit and relish it. This is no place for subtlety, and even if it was, Irving Gertz isn’t going to provide it.

All in all, a thoroughly fine B-movie noir with a lot going for it.

The film started shooting on July 15, 1957 at the Kling Studios and it was released on December 5, 1957 by 20th Century Fox.

The cast are Gene Raymond as Eddie Harris, Jeanne Cooper as Fran Werner, Wayne Morris as Commando Munson, Elisha Cook Jr as Skeets Jonas, Stafford Repp as Roly Adams, Steven Ritch as Frankie Chardo, Nora Hayden as Hazel, Helene Heigh as Society Woman, Harry Tyler as Ernie Beach, Paul Harber as Trooper No. 1, Charles J. Conrad as Trooper No. 2, Don Garrett as Policeman No. 2, Michael Fox as Smog Officer / Voice of Radio Reporter John Oliver, Richard Newton as Guard, Jim Canino as Tibbs, Robin Riley as Don, Douglas Bank as Guard No. 1 / Narrator.

© Derek Winnert 2026 – Classic Movie Review 13,981

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