Noir City: Plunder Road
February 19, 2024
From its thrilling opening, in which a crew of hooded robbers steal a huge load of gold bullion from a train during a driving rainstorm, the film never stops moving—smashing its way down the widescreen interstate as gang-leader Gene Raymond and his truck-driving cohorts try to abscond with the score of a lifetime.
Individual Tickets: $16 | $11 SIFF Members - Select showtime to purchase
Passes: $150 | $125 SIFF Members
SIFF year-round passes and vouchers are not valid for this screening.
Director Cornfield came to Hollywood in the 1950s with New York pal Stanley Kubrick, and, with his third feature, Cornfield was consciously competing with his colleague’s breakthrough heist film, The Killing. From its thrilling opening, in which a crew of hooded robbers steal a huge load of gold bullion from a train during a driving rainstorm, the film never stops moving—smashing its way down the widescreen interstate as gang-leader Gene Raymond and his truck-driving cohorts (Wayne Morris, Elisha Cook Jr., and screenwriter Steven Ritch) desperately try to abscond with the score of a lifetime. An inspired, low-budget cross between Clouzot’s The Wages of Fear and Melville’s Le Deuxiéme Souffle, it may be the best film on the résumé of Hollywood outlier Cornfield (The 3rd Voice, Pressure Point, The Night of the Following Day). It also features one of the biggest roles ever for noir stalwart Elisha Cook Jr.—reason enough to not miss this breathless, pulse-pounding thriller. —Film synopsis courtesy of Noir City
- Director: Hubert Cornfield
- Principal Cast: Gene Raymond, Jeanne Cooper, Wayne Morris, Elisha Cook Jr., Steven Ritch
- Country: USA
- Year: 1957
- Running Time: 72 min.
- Producer: Leon Chooluck, Laurence Stewart
- Screenplay: Steven Ritch
- Cinematographers: Ernest Haller
- Editors: Warren Adams, Jerry Young
- Music: Irving Gertz
- Filmography: The Night of the Following Day (1969), The 3rd Voice (1960), Lure of the Swamp (1957)
- Language: English
- US Distributor: Paramount Pictures