Time Table (1956)

As a train speeds through the Arizona night, a man posing as a physician holds up the baggage-car crew and escapes with a $500,000 payroll. The fake doctor, Paul Bruckner, leaves the train ... See full summary »

Director:

Mark Stevens

Writers:

Robert Angus (original story), Aben Kandel (screenplay)

Stars:

Mark Stevens, King Calder, Felicia Farr

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Mark Stevens	...	Charlie Norman
King Calder	...	Joe Armstrong
Felicia Farr	...	Linda Brucker
Marianne Stewart	...	Ruth Norman
Wesley Addy	...	Dr. Paul Brucker
Alan Reed	...	Al Wolfe
Rodolfo Hoyos Jr.	...	Lt. Castro (as Rudolpho Hoyos)
Jack Klugman	...	Frankie Page
John Marley	...	Bobik

Storyline

As a train speeds through the Arizona night, a man posing as a physician holds up the baggage-car crew and escapes with a $500,000 payroll. The fake doctor, Paul Bruckner, leaves the train with his "patient" and the "patient's wife", who is really Bruckner's wife Linda. The insurance company puts its best investigator, Charlie Norman, on the case to work with the railroad's investigator, Joe Armstrong. The men are friends and Joe is upset that Charlie and his wife, Ruth, will have to postpone their Mexico vacation. Charlie's concern goes beyond the spoiled vacation as he was the brains behind the holdup, who had fallen in love with Linda several months earlier while investigating a claim Bruckner had filed against his insurance company. At first, Joe is unable to find anything out about the flawlessly timetable planning for the robbery other than what Charlie wants him to find out.

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Plot Keywords:

train | baggage car | robbery | fake doctor | arizona | 

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Taglines:

With All The Terror Of A Time Bomb!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 February 1956 (USA)

Also Known As:

Auf den Schienen zur Hölle

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mark Stevens Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

79 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"Salud, Felicidad y Amor"
Music by Walter Scharf
Lyrics by Jack Brooks

User Reviews

Well-Crafted and Suspenseful

Gang executes intricate train robbery, putting two insurance investigators on their trail, with a major twist.

At about the time Kubrick was making a reputation with his heist film The Killing (1956), Mark Stevens put together this little gem. Unlike Kubrick's classic, this caper film doesn't rise to semi-artistic heights, but it is tight, tough, and well-acted, with some nice touches. For example, there're the surly baggage handler and the brusque airplane mechanic, both colorful bits that could have easily remained routine.

Aben Kandel's script is carefully plotted, dribbling out pieces of information that keep us glued to developments-- plus that great opening hook with its careful staging. But what I especially like is his and Stevens' attention to jilted wife Ruth (Stewart). It would have been so easy to shove this plain-faced woman aside as Stevens cavorts with the lovely Linda (Farr). Instead they play up her heartbreak as this drably devoted wife watches the collapse of everything she holds dear. In my book, it's a sensitive dimension that helps lift this 80- minutes beyond the simply well-crafted.

In addition to Stewart's fine performance is King Calder's (Armstong). His humorless, Bassett hound face is perfect for the dogged investigator who knows the importance of visualizing and goes where the evidence takes him, regardless. Look too for Jack Klugman (Frankie) in one of his earliest film roles.

Judging from Stevens' list of credits (IMDB), he's one of those contract players trying his best after the break up of the old studio system and the decline of the B-movie. Whatever his later misfortunes (Gunsight Ridge {1957}; Gun Fever {1958})-- he and Kandel team up to score solidly with this overlooked little caper gem.