Plunder Road (1957)

[Commando and Frankie laughing after pulling off the heist]
Eddie: Before we start congratulating ourselves let’s remember we’ve still got nine hundred miles to go.  Nine hundred miles to every cop between here and the coast, and you laugh it up like a couple of clowns.

The first time I watched this movie was simply from youtube to see what it was like.  I had heard the name from time to time but it seems to have few reviews so I thought it would be worth a youtube view for curiosity sake.  Well, the moment the film was over I was online ordering the Bluray from Amazon.  This is a great low budget heist/noir that is original in some of its ideas and is filmed wonderfully.  The film is Directed by Hubert Cornfield, a Twentieth Century Fox Executive, who didn’t make all that many films in his career.

It’s raining hard and the film is dark and thick with contrast almost revealing the dark intentions of the five men driving to the scene of the crime.  For the first 14 minutes we see no one speaking but you hear their thoughts as they wonder about the upcoming heist, the weather, the equipment and if there is enough chewing gum to last the night.  Eddie Harris (Gene Raymond) is the mastermind behind the heist with fellow crooks Commando Munson (Wayne Morris), Skeets Jonas (Elisha Cook Jr.), Roly Adams (Stafford Repp) and Frankie Chardo (Steven Ritch) following a strict plan to rob a U.S. Mint train on its way to San Francisco.  The payload is a cool $10,000,000 of gold.  After taking the loot they drive to their hideout to execute the second of three stages to their brilliantly planned getaway.  But as with all plans, it only takes a little mistake to stuff it up.

Unlike the vast majority of heist movies (including noir) we do not see the planning of the robbery but we are thrown right into it as they worryingly think about it in the first section of the film, then the robbery occours and the remaining part of the film is the getaway.  It’s a refreshing change from the norm and is executed very well.  Where movies like Rififi have a large focus on pulling off the heist, Plunder Road focuses more on the getaway and how it is done.  

The second stage of the getaway is to get to Los Angeles where they will further conceal their deeds and hopefully make it across the border to freedom as millionaires.  

The Bluray in review is from Olive Films in America and it is locked Region A which means that almost anyone outside America will be unable to view it.  You can do a few searches in Australia for a “Region A” or “Region Free” Bluray player and you will probably find that you can get one of the cheaper brands from stores you would not suspect.  But there is a Region 1 DVD (many DVD players in Australia are region free – do a quick google search to see if yours is one of them) also available which should have good image quality assuming it is based off the same source material used for the Bluray.  So for those in Australia and Europe stick to the DVD unless you have a “Region A” Bluray player.

Unusually for a Film Noir, it was filmed in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio and comes to us quite clean and sharp.  The dark, inky blacks are displayed well in the opening sequence of the film for the Bluray and the day sequences for the other parts of the getaway are clean and well preserved.  The audio is DTS HD Master Audio Mono and sounds good for what it is with clear dialogue suitable for a film of this type and vintage.  There are no extras at all.

Overall, I would class this as a must see for Noir fans and even recommended for those not interested in noir specifically.  It’s a great underrated heist film that is bound to please any Noir fan.  Go for it!

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