Good concept, poorly executed.

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

"Plunder Road" is about a train heist of $10 million in gold bullion. In a well planned robbery, led by Eddie Harris (Gene Raymond) along with Frankie Chardo (Steven Rich), Munson (Wayne Morris), Skeets (Elisha Cook Jr.) and Roly Adams (Stafford Repp), the gang pulls off "the biggest robbery in U.S. history" in the teeming rain, using a large van and a small crane truck to obtain and transport the loot.The gang hides the trucks used in the robbery and loads the gold onto three separate trucks carrying furniture, coffee and a chemical liquid. They plan to go to Los Angeles leaving at staggered times. Roly is the first to leave followed by Munson and Skeets and finally Eddie and Frankie.Roly is stopped by the police and is shot trying to escape. Munson and Skeets stop for gas where Muson murders the gas station attendant who recognized them as part of the heist team. They are later arrested at a truck weigh scales station when the excess weight of their vehicle is discovered.Eddie and Frankie make it through various roadblocks to L.A. where Eddie's girl friend Fran Werner (Jeanne Cooper) is waiting. They melt down the gold and...............................................There's a couple of holes in the story (written by Rich) likely due to budget considerations. For example there is no information provided as to how Eddie Harris knew about the shipment or how he formed his gang and planned the robbery in the intricate detail necessary. The explosive they are carrying is not identified but is assumed to be nitro-glycerin. Also, since the shipment was obviously headed to or from Fort Knox, where was the military presence?Gene Raymond had been a major star in the 30s appearing opposite many of the leading ladies of the day. He was married to Jeannette MacDonald for 28 years and had appeared in a limited number of films since then. Wayne Morris was a highly decorated WWII hero whose career had declined. He made a comeback in 1957 with his role in "Paths of Glory" but died in 1959 before he could get his career going again. Stafford Repp is best remembered for his role as the Police Chief in the "Batman" TV series. Elisha Cook appeared in dozens of similar roles as the tough little guy such as his Wilmer in "The Maltese Falcon"

Director Hubert Cornfield's heist caper "Plunder Road" was made when Hollywood prohibited criminals from getting away with their criminal endeavors. Five men, Eddie Harris (Gene Raymond of "Red Dust"), Commando Munson (Wayne Morris of "Paths of Glory"), Skeets Jonas (Elisha Cook Jr., of "The Maltese Falcon"), Roly Adams (Stafford Repp of ABC-TV's "Batman") and Frankie Chardo (Steven Ritch of "Seminole Uprising"), stage a daring night time robbery of a train transporting gold bullion to San Francisco. The first ten minutes or so concern the actual hold-up itself with the hoodlums gassing the guards and slugging the train engineer unconscious. The next forty-five minutes depicts the road trip that the robbers take in three separate vehicles. Eddie and Frankie cruise along in a tanker truck. Commando and Skeets drive a rental truck with coffee used to conceal their load of the bullion, while Roly drives a truck carrying furniture. Cornfield has pared this crime caper down to its absolute essentials. Roly is caught first when he doesn't make it through a roadblock because he leaves his police band radio turned on. He makes a futile effort to get away, but the police shoot him in the back. Eddie and Frankie roll up not long afterward and spot the authorities taking Roly's body away in an ambulance. Meanwhile, Commando and Skeets pull up to fill up at a gas station. Commando gets into a conversation with the old-timer who is filling up the truck. The old-timer inquires about his oil. When Commando raises the hood, his automatic pistol falls out and he has to murder the attendant. Finally, Eddie and Frankie make it to Los Angeles without incident and smelt their gold bullion down at a warehouse. Pollution officials interrupt Eddie and company and write them a citation. By this time, Eddie's girlfriend Fran Werner (Jeanne Cooper of "The Intruder") begs him to call things off, but Eddie complains that they have gone through too much to back out now. Our protagonists melt the gold down into hubcaps and other body parts for a Cadillac and cruise onto the freeway when disaster strikes. As Frankie is tooling along the freeway, they pass an accident, and a woman driver behind them spends too much time rubbernecking at a crashed car and rear-ends our protagonists. Naturally, the uniformed cops appear to help untangle the bumpers when they notice that Eddie's car has a gold bumper.There isn't much room for characterization in this taut drama. Similarly, there isn't much sentiment either. Cornfield generates suspense and tension from the moment that the thieves pack up the bullion and head cross-country to Los Angeles. Naturally, scenarist Steven Ritch, working from a story by Jack Charney and he, has to dream up ways for the thieves to blunder. If only Roly had kept his police radio turned off. If only Commando has kept a close watch on his automatic pistol! Why did Eddie have to melt the gold into a rear bumper? Couldn't he have melted the bullion into other car parts? Remember, back in the 1950s, crime didn't pay, so our protagonists are simply living on borrowed time. Nevertheless, "Plunder Road" is qualifies as a suspenseful, white-knuckled exercise in crime.

Being primarily a visual medium, one of the things film does best is illustrate the mechanics of complex items. I refer not only to the machinations of the caper plot so well achieved here, but also to big machines themselves -- trains, trucks, assembly lines. Many a great director has used the relentless workings of machines as a metaphor for inescapable fate -- think especially of Fritz Lang and the openings of Human Desire and Clash by Night.The stars of Plunder Road are the machines themselves -- the overburdened trucks inching their way to freedom, the massive crane and huffing sabotaged train in the rain-pelted robbery scene, the bubbling cauldron at the foundry contributing to the ingenious escape plan, etc. The human characters are sketched briefly, with impressionistic strokes, but it's the mute mechanical accomplices that drive the plot and stick in the mind. This is best illustrated by the cleverly-inserted visit of a smog inspector, and again in the cruelly ironic downfall of the protagonists, who are at the mercy of their guileless vehicles.

Once again , I'm surprised by the lack of interest in such a good film . A gang of gold robbers melt down a haul of the precious metal to make some very pricey bumpers for their Cadillac . The climax is sensational . An interesting idea (particularly the ending)- well written , well directed and well played by all concerned . Keeps you glued to the screen from start to finish . If you're looking for a good 50s crime thriller this is it .