Time Table (1956)

In Arizona, a train's baggage car is robbed of a large payroll, prompting an investigation led by a railroad official-insurance investigator team.

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 | fake doctor | baggage car | arizona | robbery | 

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Taglines:

With All The Terror Of A Time Bomb!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 February 1956 (USA)

Also Known As:

Timetable

Filming Locations:

California Studios - 5530 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mark Stevens Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The $500,000 payroll stolen would be the equivalent of $4,400,000 in 2016.

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Goofs

At the end of the film, when Joe shoots Charlie, he fires way to the left of Charlie. There is no way that his bullet would have hit Charlie with that aim.

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Connections

Featured in The World Famous Kid Detective (2014)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

"Every case is an ulcer."

Brilliant tight thriller and a minor but classical noir. There is everything in it: a doomed romance, an alcoholic doctor, bars with loose women, corruption and murder - although a minor film, it provides it all. The perfect crime is flawlessly staged, and when one slight detail goes wrong the whole watertight enterprise gradually starts to disintegrate but slowly, piece by piece, as an honest man with a happy marriage by his own doing gradually is pushed further and further down the abyss of increasing criminality. Mark Stevens made many films of this kind and acted in even more, and although he never quite got out into the limelight as any central figure, his performances and contributions were always reliable, usually on low budget. This was probably one of his best films, which he directed, produced and acted himself, and there is no pause for catching your breath in the constantly accelerating action. This is a film to return to for its ingenious composition.