Plunder Road

"Crime of the century!"

1957 1h 12m EN

👍

6.9

SOLID

★6.9TMDB · 46

CrimeDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A spectacular heist starts to unravel as the crooks take it on the lam.

“Crime of the century!”

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Cast

Gene Raymond
Eddie Harris
Jeanne Cooper
Fran Werner
Wayne Morris
Commando Munson
Elisha Cook Jr.
Skeets Jonas
Stafford Repp
Roly Adams
Steven Ritch
Frankie Chardo
Harry Tyler
Gas station attendant
Helene Heigh

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Hubert Cornfield
Writers: Steven Ritch, Steven Ritch, Jack Charney
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Tight 72-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

69 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Hubert Cornfield, shot by Ernest Haller. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Irving Gertz. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Warren Adams shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Gene Raymond and Jeanne Cooper and Wayne Morris carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Crime of the century!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0050847 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Hubert Cornfield directs. Ernest Haller behind the camera. Irving Gertz scores. Warren Adams cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 72-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
269 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Directed by Hubert Cornfield, shot by Ernest Haller. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Irving Gertz. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Warren Adams shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Gene Raymond and Jeanne Cooper and Wayne Morris carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Crime of the century!".
8IMDB entry: tt0050847 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 46 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Ernest Haller
Original score: Irving Gertz
Editing: Warren Adams
Production design: Bob Gill
Makeup / hair: Louis Hippe
Runtime: 72 min · 1h 12m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Plunder Road (1957)

Also by

Hubert Cornfield

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2014-03-10
★ 7/10
In the most daring train robbery of all time... 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 the 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 (15 minutes worth) 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, some contrivances are to be taken with a pinch of salt, while Gertz's score is very intrusive for the whole 15 minutes heist sequence. However, this is a good and enjoyable film noir experience, even though it doesn't quite push towards the upper echelons of other heist movies in the film noir universe. 7/10

Production companies