Runtime: 72 minutes
Directed by: Hubert Cornfield
Starring: Gene Raymond, Wayne Morris, Elisha Cook, Jr., Stafford Repp, Steven Ritch, Jeanne Cooper
From: 20th Century Fox
This made me realized Los Angeles has had several issues for far longer than I realized.
A few days ago a mutual on Letterboxd reviewed this film and that was the inspiration for me to track it down and see this as part of Heist Week for me. In particular, the item stolen: 10 million dollars in gold from the U.S. Treasury that was on a train. That heist was well-done and was a nice way to open the movie... several trucks are on a Utah road during a rainy night, heading towards the locomotive. The heist itself was great, well-executed, thrilling and containing the first of several references to The Wages of Fear.
The entire picture focuses on just those five men and their journey in three trucks after the heist towards Los Angeles. The ringleader thinks he has a foolproof plan but naturally things go awry due to foolish mistakes. The two most famous faces are Gene Raymond and Elisha Cook, Jr. That invites comparisons to The Killing and while that is better as a classic movie and a heist picture, Plunder Road is a pretty good movie overall. It is lean & mean at only 72 minutes and has plenty of moments filled with suspense, along with a scene that concludes with a brutal moment. Radio broadcasts are the way that the quintet-along with the audience-are kept abreast of law enforcement's efforts to track down the thieves, although at times you do see police officers... there is no important role for a cop, though. I was amused-and surprised-that even back then the LA area had “air pollution control” as a way to try and combat smog.
Olive Films (technically still around, although it's been years since I've heard them put out anything) released it on disc; I wish it was easier to-legally-track down. The final few minutes are also aces for me. It was just unfortunate that one moment in the movie now reminds me of what happened with Tiger Woods less than 12 hours ago as I post this... that should not dissuade you at all from giving this a shot if you love noir and/or heist pictures.
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