The FRiday Night Movie - Plunder Road (1957)

This week's film is an underrated little gem of a heist flick from the late 1950s. A gang of robbers pull off a daring train robbery, and now must figure out how to smuggle several million dollars worth of gold out of the country before the law catches up with them.

Posting a little early tonight because I'm going out this evening. At any rate, Plunder Road is a good little film. It's B-movie fare, made on a small budget, but it moves at a good pace and is a lot of fun. The heist scenes in particular are very well done, and the scheme the gang uses to smuggle the gold is quite clever. 6.75/10.

BTW, fans of the old Batman tv series might recognize Chief O'Hara (Stafford Repp) as one the gang members.

I always liked this film. It’s lean and to-the-point, without any kind of pretentiousness or self-consciousness. No overdone characterizations, or detractingly arty direction. No-nonsense. So often these types of films toss in a lot of over-emotional character conflicts, trying to gratuitously pepper up the drama, but not this one. This one avoids all that, and I think I appreciated it more because of this.

“Plunder Road” hardly constitutes any kind of classic status, and in many ways can be dismissed as pretty routine fare. Yet, I find I value films like this more and more with each passing year. Often much moreso than many so-called “classics.”

I thought it could have used a little more character conflict, perhaps on the subject of whether to long-distance haul the loot or get it to a fairly nearby burial spot and sit on it for a couple of years. I know, the whole point of the story was to “gold on the road” but I think there could have been more dissension in the ranks. I know I would have been pushing for “bury it and wait” if I had been a member of that gang.

Anyway, interesting film. Nice look back in time. I love the smog ticket, and the freeway scene.

I probably would have shared the same notions in terms of aesthetics and what constitutes good drama, years ago. Maybe my tastes have become affected by a certain jadedness, after seeing over 4000 old movies. Or maybe it’s my balking at the near-operatic levels of emotionalism and self-conscious calculation that drenches everything currently made in this modern culture. But whatever the case, I’m particularly drawn to matter-of-fact, low-key storytelling which doesn’t ramp things up for effect, in terms of the direction, the narrative, or the characterizations.

I’m reminded of post-war 1950s westerns, which admittedly includes many great films. But there was a new tendency in some back then to provide exposition to ‘explain’ the reasons behind a villain’s villainy... a little psychological background to why he was such a rotter. I used to like things like this, because they added a bit of texture and diminsion to a character. But nowadays, I find it a bit too calculated and annoying. In the even-older days, a villain was just a villain. Because he was simply “bad.” He had no morals. He stole and killed for greed. As simple as that. I can’t deny, I just like the unapologetic directness of this, and in many ways, think it is indeed reflective of a basic reality.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.