Written by Steven Ritch
Directed by Hubert Cornfield
U.S.A., 1957
It is a wet, late night. Raindrops fall down on the sleepy Utah countryside like a hail of bullets on a battlefield. Five men in two trucks drive silently to a mysterious location, each wrestling internally with the rising tension befitting a major heist scheme. They are Eddie (Gene Raymond), Commando (Wayne Morris), Skeets (Elisha Cook Jr.), Roly (Stafford Repp) and Frankie (Steven Ritch, who also serves as screenwriter). Amidst the impressive storm they successfully halt a speeding train, blow up the outside wall to one of its cars and make away from a hefty sum of gold bullion. This is but the first part of their plan, for now the group must traverse police roadblocks along the way to the City of Angels, all while under the guise of various types of truck drivers (liquid chemical transportation, furniture moving). They are all so close to living a life of wealth of freedom yet so far at the same time…
Certain films can be surmised in a single word. The word comes to mind effortlessly, encapsulating everything about the picture in a succinct little package. Plunder Road, which stars, notwithstanding Elisha Cook Jr., a cast of long forgotten actors, is ‘economical’. It has not time to waste in telling its story nor does it even want to dawdle in side plots or ‘downtime’ to slow down the pacing. Director Hubert Cornfield cuts every inch of fat that might otherwise have bogged down the film’s pace, leaving no more than the bare essentials. The result of this ruthless effort is twofold. On the one hand, Plunder Road shows the end titles after barely 72 minutes. On the other, the viewer is rewarded with a breathlessly compact potboiler of a thriller, throwing the them into the world of five men with a very specific game plan in mind and having to contend with whatever forces beyond their control present themselves as hurdles. Director Cornfield sensationally rushes the picture’s pacing just as the protagonists demonstrate impressive expediency in striving for their final objective.
The apex of Hubert Cornfield’s career in Hollywood as a director was brief, to say the least. From 1955 to 1962 he made 5 films, Plunder Road being his third feature in 1957. Afterwards, only two projects came to fruition, 1969’s The Night of the Following Day, starring Marlon Brando, and Les Grandes Moyens in 1976. Given Plunder Road’s tantalizing quality, it is a pity that he worked on so few projects. The movie clicks along as if jostled by a military drumbeat and refuses to stop until the tune ends. In contrast, for however short the endeavor is, Cornfield finds ways to pepper succinct but appreciative character and thematic moments that add depth. In fairness, the movie never postulates any particularly deep ideologies, but at the very least the viewer earns the benefit of enough information about who the cast of characters is and the odds they must confront. Consider the opening scene for instance. Not a word is exchanged between the thieves as they drive the wet road towards the location where the train is soon to pass. Still no dialogue transpires once they leave their vehicles and manipulate their technical gadgetry in anticipation of the locomotive. The only tidbits of character development Cornfield permits is through the thought process of each participant, shared via voice over narration. What is divulged is not very much yet sufficient in laying some decent groundwork. Who are the more level-headed members of the team? Who are those that look as though they could crack at the slightest sign of trouble? In a matter of minutes the audience is perfectly set up to understanding who it is they are to follow for the next hour or so.
Plunder Road is part heist film, part road trip and part chase film. The first sequence is the heist, brilliantly captured on camera by cinematographer Ernest Haller. This being a film from 1957, therefore in the latter days of the classic noir period when filmmaking techniques had evolved since the early 1940s, and produced by 20th Century, a major Hollywood studio, it sports a very sharp, professional look. The existent depth in the frame during the early, drenched sequence is extraordinary. Even if some are not taken by precisely how the quintet of crooks is executing its plan, it still looks fantastic, especially in glorious 2.35:1 widescreen. From there the picture changes gears, no pun intended, for the long road that lies ahead as Eddie and the gang project to reach Los Angeles where another cohort (Jeanne Cooper) awaits them to handle the gold. Now the characters are awarded a bit more time to express themselves, sharing thoughts and feelings as they traverse the American highway system. These interludes are frequently cut short by radio news reports and intercepted police channels suggesting how far the latter have gone in locating the culprits, therefore always keeping the anti-heroes on their toes. One of the most intelligent choices the filmmakers make is to never diverge from the criminals. The police are constantly out and about yet never seen unless the leading characters encounter them during their drive. As such, the viewer and the characters never know exactly where the authorities are or when they’ll suddenly show up.
Although the movie spends precious little time richly exploring deep themes, it does intermittently insist on the importance of technology, both for the protagonists when performing sophisticated acts of thievery, and for the police. The aforementioned train heist is a prime of example of the gizmo know-how required to pull off the act without it literally blowing up in their faces. From the protective gear caressing the explosive device, to the humungous, crane-equipped tractor driven by Roly, Plunder Road relishes in putting as much spotlight on the machinery involved as it does on the actors. As much as technology facilitated their operation, it is also what leads to their downfall. When Skeets and Commando make a necessary pit stop at a gas station, its clerk sparks conversation about the ‘crime of the century’ everyone is talking about on the radio. The elderly gentleman believes the men will surely be caught, less because of any belief that they might be too incompetent (he even demonstration remote admiration for how well they’ve done), and more for their inevitable defeat in the face of modern policing methods. Lo and behold, hours later when the duo are accosted at a road block and explain they are delivering shipments of coffee, a meter determines that their truck is far too overweight, thus cutting their escape plan short. The only ones that survive the trek to L.A. are Eddie and Frankie, where they make use of an old factory to melt the gold into car parts (technology once again coming to the rescue), only for their own journey to end suddenly when a careless driver runs into them, loosening their shiny new golden bumper, much to the surprise of the nearby police. As such, technology plays the role of fate, its pendulum constantly swinging in directions no man or woman can ever predict.
Self-described fans of noir and heist pictures owe it to themselves to give Plunder Road a chance. Its ruthless efficiency is a double blessing, offering thrills in a tight package whilst showing off excellent cinematography and hoard of poignant ways in which modern technology (modern for the era, that is) is a double edged sword when on the lam. Taught, tense, handsome, supported by a cast of relatively unknown but no less capable actors, it really is a treat.
-Edgar Chaput