Lady on a Train

source: Lady on a Train

*Some minor spoilers* There are a heap of negative - or at least heavily qualified - reviews of Lady on a Train already, so hopefully this one will balance things somewhat. I watched the film last night and had a ball. Deanna Durbin hit the screen as a gawky, talented kid in an MGM one-reeler (Every Sunday, alongside Judy Garland), became the gal who saved Universal via a string of enchanting, well-produced musicals, then – with the onset of her adulthood – graduated to more mature fare, before retiring to obscurity in France with husband Charles David. In this excellent hybrid of screwball comedy and murder mystery (directed by David), the 24-year-old Durbin is ideally cast as a pleasant, energetic crime fiction fan. After witnessing the murder of an industrial tycoon, she stumbles confusedly around for an hour, singing a few songs, rubbing people up the wrong way and trying, desperately, to hold on to the fluffy, blood-stained bedroom slippers that constitute her only evidence. The backdrop is like a Falcon film, cross-cut with Bringing Up Baby - with Durbin bouncing around in front. Music-wise, we get three diverse Durbin tracks. First off is a lovely reading of Silent Night that's curiously imagined but exquisitely sung, reducing gun-toting trespasser Allen Jenkins to tears. Then, masquerading as a nightclub chanteuse, Deanna performs the sultry Give Me a Little Kiss and Cole Porter's Night and Day, which is cleverly staged and given a complex, tom tom-led arrangement. The script is smart, sharp and inventive, and the whole thing is shot like a dream by Woody Bredell, cinematographer on six other Durbin films, as well as the classic noir The Killers. Perhaps the Christmas angle could have been hyped up a little in the story, but I've rarely seen a film that looks as Christmassy. The supporting cast is simply as good as it gets. Edward Everett Horton is perfect as a befuddled yes man charged with chaperoning Durbin, while Allen Jenkins plays it uncharacteristically gruff and tough as the murderer's henchman. Our chief suspects are Samuel Hinds (whose part is slightly underwritten), an exceptional Dan Duryea – bristling with charm and menace – and Ralph Bellamy. Elizabeth Patterson shines as Duryea and Bellamy's crotchety aunt. David Bruce, whose career as a leading man was oddly limited, is excellent, entirely lacking vanity as he racks up the laughs. I'd recommend this film to anyone who enjoys classic comedies, or just old movies in general. It really is great fun, with comedy, music, romance and intrigue blending wonderfully.

This movie has a lot of very talented, very experienced actors. So the sad results are not their fault. I guess the real problem is the script. I haven't heard so much inane dialogue in I can't remember when. HOW did this script get by the Universal directors??? The only real good points, perhaps because they have nothing to do with the dialog, are the few musical numbers. Ms. Durbin's rendition of *Night and Day* is spoiled by a very bad arrangement, but her *Silent Night*, sung to her father over the telephone, is very moving. Such a number could be called a throw-away, I suppose, since it really has nothing to do with advancing the plot. In this case, however, I would suggest throwing away the rest of the movie and just watching that. I've very much enjoyed some of Durbin's other movies. This one is just too weakly scripted to excuse, however.

Couldn't finish this film ... so ridiculously off track ... more perforations than a colander. I got off the train when she became Margot Martin and got slapped by Aunt Charlotte but I should have gotten off at Grand Central Station.

Lady On A Train represents Universal Studios trying to transition Deanna Durbin into more adult roles. Although the film has its fun moments in the comedy department, Deanna is essentially still playing her goody two shoes teenage self. As this involves a mystery, this could have been the plot of a Nancy Drew story. As the New York Central is going down Manhattan's spine taking Deanna on the last leg of her cross country journey she spots what she thinks is a murder in one of the passing apartments. That would be enough to upset anyone, but Deanna is a girl who loves mysteries, we see her reading one on the train. As she's a bit of madcap she has trouble getting police desk sergeant William Frawley to take her seriously. After she sees a newsreel and recognizes the victim as a millionaire who was reported to have died at his Long Island mansion, Durbin interjects herself into that family. The victim disinherited his relatives Elizabeth Patterson, Dan Duryea, and Ralph Bellamy and left his estate to nightclub singer Maria Palmer. Deanna just gets deeper and deeper until she solves the mystery. As for the culprit, given casting stereotypes a real big red herring is tossed at the audience. But she's as determined as Nancy Drew to get to the bottom of things. Some nice standards are given Durbin to sing, Night And Day and Silent Night is sung because the story does take place at Christmas time. Lady On A Train should please the still strong legion of Durbin fans.

Deanna Durbin never seemed to go through an "awkward age" on screen. Even though she was a child star, she had already passed that uncomfortable age when she made her first film. Also she was very pretty and Universal studio was small enough to let her talent blossom. In "Lady on a Train" she tries her hand at screwball comedy and it really works. The original story was by Leslie Charteris, creator of "The Saint". Deanna Durbin (as a beautiful blonde) plays scatty Nicki Collins, addicted to crime novels, who sees a murder from her carriage window - she is going by train to spend Christmas in New York with her aunt and uncle. Of course no one believes her so she tries to enlist the help of Wayne Morgan (David Bruce) her favourite crime novelist. He is not interested and is also hampered by his fashion model girlfriend (the gorgeous Patricia Morison). Nicki goes snooping at the murdered man's mansion and stumbles onto the reading of the will. Everyone assumes she is Margot Martin, the murdered man's fiancée and she keeps up the pretense. She meets Arnold Waring (Dan Duryea) glib and carefree and Jonathon Waring (Ralph Bellamy) caring and cautious, both of whom have not benefited from the will. Allen Jenkins plays a surly thug, who is trailing Nicki with instructions to kill her. When he hears her sing "Silent Night" he is putty in her hands for about five minutes. She arrives at the Circus Club and goes on in Margot's place (Margot just happens to be a singer) singing "Give Me a Little Kiss, Will Ya, Huh??". Also figuring in the plot is a pair of men's bedroom slippers - the ones that the victim was wearing. Nicki first found them at the mansion and from then on she has a job to keep them out of the murderer's hands - until the butler gets hold of them and cleans all the evidence off them. She also sings a beautiful, sultry version of "Night and Day". When the real Margot is murdered Nicki is arrested. Creepy Arnold bails her out and on the way to a meeting he confides that he hated his uncle (along with everyone else). She gets away and thinks she has found a safe haven but ...... This is a great mystery with screwball elements. Durbin does an excellent job and it is a real pity that she didn't have a longer career. Dan Duryea continued forging his career as a character actor of quirky roles. Highly Recommended.

Deanna Durbin had one of the best singing voices in movies in the 1940s, and a pleasing personality. She did make some good films like "It Started With Eve" and "Can't Help Singing", but most of her films have gone into a kind of eclipse which is hard to understand. Her one time film partner Judy Garland (in the short "Every Sunday") is recalled by her myriads of fans to this day for her records, her concerts, and her films. So is Mario Lanza, and he made far less movies than Durbin. But she got married, retired from movies as a regular profession (occasionally doing a voice over or a song), and became very contented. A far better fate, perhaps, than Garland's or Lanza's. The problem was the choice of vehicles for her. She did luck out on a few films, but most did not have the care that Garland's best work at MGM had. This 1945 film was really unique, as it was a murder mystery that tried to keep you guessing until the end who was the murderer. Dearbin is returning by train to Grand Central Station, and while passing through the lofts of the upper East West Side of the Manhattan of the middle 1940s she sees the apparent murder of an elderly gentleman by a person whose back is towards her. She tries to get the train to stop so others can see what she saw, but the people who come in don't see a life and death struggle going on. Yet two days later Durbin is reading the newspaper and sees an item about the death of a major businessman (Thurston Hall). She starts investigating this death, and finds that his two nephews are his heirs. The nephews (Dan Duryea and Ralph Bellamy) start being questioned by Durbin, but she is not sure which of them (if either) is the guilty party. Duryea acts like his typical untrustworthy hedonist, and Bellamy acts like someone who would just like to be of assistance. There are some moments for singing, of course. One funny one is when Durbin is alone in her apartment except for Allan Jenkins, one of the villain's henchmen. Jenkins just has to pick up some piece of evidence in Durbin's bedroom, to get rid of it. He has managed to get inside, but she is on the telephone. He starts thinking seriously of killing her, but hears her singing a very sentimental ballad over the telephone. From time to time we see it does affect him as he listens carefully. Finally Durbin hangs up, and leaves the room (so that Jenkins can leave the house unobserved). He does, but not before blowing nose quite hard. It's rare to see Jenkins so moved. It is a cute little thriller - comedy. Nothing spectacular, but it was a change of pace for Durbin, trying to be Nora Charles.

Terrible vehicle for Universal's resident singing star Deanna Durbin (here, at 23, still finding her footing as a womanly actress rather than as a teen starlet) attempts to combine a noir scenario with a comedic, screwball script, keeping Deanna breathless, illogical and dithering for nearly 95 minutes. Arriving in New York City by train to visit her relatives, Durbin witnesses a murder from her passenger window; naturally, the police are of no help, so she enlists the expertise of a detective stories writer to help her solve the crime. Screenplay by Edmund Beloin and Robert O'Brien, from a story by Leslie Charteris, is full of fast, silly talk--most of it more annoying than amusing--and off-putting characters. Deanna alternates between inquisitive kid and grown-up fashion plate. The rest of this 'mystery' is just as uncertain. *1/2 from ****

The 1930s and 40s had some lovely actresses. But few of them could compare to the dazzling Deanna Durbin. With her sparkling eyes, her wholesome smile, her beautifully blonde hair, and her charming personality, Durbin outshines everyone else in this film by far, and lifts a drab story to the level of enjoyment. She plays Nikki Collins, a smart young woman, the "Lady", in Charles David's "Lady On A Train", who, from her train compartment, witnesses an unlikely murder in a nearby building. Technically, the film is a whodunit. But, from the beginning, viewers understand that the story is a spoof, not to be taken seriously. Playing amateur detective, Nikki races around amid various characters and comic situations, attempting to find the killer. But she's just too lucky and too clever for the plot to be considered credible. The setting is New York City on Christmas Eve, with snow falling. As a result, the film has a soft, soothing feel to it, despite the criminal component. The film's humor is what I would describe as old-style. For example, one sequence has Nikki trying to get the attention of a mystery writer, while the writer and his girlfriend sit in a crowded theater. Nikki moves in and out of rows, disrupting the audience, with predictable humorous consequences. In the film, Durbin sings a couple of songs, and thereby interrupts the film's flow. But, in one case, the interruption is justified, as it becomes, for me, the highlight of the entire film. Into a telephone, she sings two full verses of "Silent Night". With her magically radiant face and her beautiful singing voice, she exalts the already beautiful Christmas carol to resplendent melodic purity. This sequence is almost hypnotic in its simple beauty, and alone redeems the film from its many flaws. Usually, I don't care for films that exist seemingly just to advance the career of the film's star. However, "Lady On A Train" is an exception. The story is not very interesting, the gags are tiresome, and the acting is average. But, through sheer force of her charming personality, Deanna Durbin alone makes this film worth watching.

Recently viewed "Lady on a Train" and was surprised to see Deanna Durbin walking along an elevated train track in New York City. It was very mysterious seeing her actually viewing a murder on a train headed for Grand Central Station. The entire film portrayed great old buildings and old lofts in the 1940's. Her singing of "Night & Day" in a Circus Cafe and her great supporting cast with Ralph Bellamy(Dr.in Rosemary's Baby) and Dan Duryea(oldest actor to start a career in acting) was great entertainment. The director, Charles David kept you spellbound as to who really DONE IT! Deanna Durbin financially helped Universal Pictures over the years, however, her acting roles fell below her standards and she retired and married director Charles David and lives in Paris, France. (She is in her 80's)