Plunder Road is a nifty 1957 crime film noir directed by Hubert Cornfield and starring Gene Raymond, Elisha Cooke, and Wayne Morris. Jeanne Cooper who played Katherine Chancellor on the long-running CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless is the romance interest. Five men pull a brazen train heist in a rainstorm and make off with a shipment of gold from the U.S. Mint. The fun is first watching them steal the gold shipment and then see if they get away with it. Well, we all know crime doesn't pay. The gang splits up into three teams, each hauling a part of the plunder in a different type truck, all of them bound for L.A. They have done their homework, and everything goes according to plan. Well, almost everything. The train heist reminds me of one of Richard Stark's Parker's theft jobs. The cast is solid, everybody playing it straight and nothing over the top. Elisha Cooke is good as he always is. TRIVIA: One of the robbers (Stafford Repp) played Police Chief O'Hara on the old Batman TV series. I kept thinking he looked awfully familiar to me. Also, the L.A. smog officer doing his duty in 1957 is interesting to see. There are a couple of surprising twists at the end I got a kick out of. IMDb rates Plunder Road with a 6.9 which I think is a bit too low. This is a taut, snappy crime movie I'd probably watch again if I ever find the time.
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